Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29b

What do your kids, or your grandkids, need this Christmas? Toys? Books? Clothes? You can give them something much greater.

All of us need something called grace. It’s favor that we did nothing to deserve. Scripture says that God lavishes his grace on us (Ephesians 1:8). As you have received grace, you can give children…or anyone, nothing better than the gift of grace.

Ephesians 4:6 instructs us, “Fathers [and mothers], do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” Sally and Clay Clarkson point out that “Paul clearly makes that connection between words and grace when he instructs the Ephesians to stop using destructive words, and to use only words that build others up according to their needs and “give grace to those who hear” (4:29).[1]

“That is what words are for: to give grace to others,”[2] say the Clarksons. What your kids (or anyone) really need this Christmas are life-giving, nurturing words of grace. Your child needs to hear that they are important to you and to God. They need you to name the excellent qualities that you see in them, and they need to hear that you and God will always be for them.

You can craft a fun opportunity in which to give the gift of your words—for boys, grace might need to “taste good,” as in over their favorite pizza, while an experience like manicures together with your girl may open her beautiful heart!

[1] Clarkson, Sally. “How to Give Our Kids of Any Age the Gift of God’s Grace in Words.” Ann Voskamp, 30 Nov. 2022, https://annvoskamp.com/2022/11/how-to-give-our-kids-of-any-age-the-gift-of-gods-grace-in-words/.

[2] Ibid.