I recently heard someone who is supposedly an expert on child development that we shouldn’t tell kids they made poor choices or did something wrong. The words she said to use were, “You didn’t do anything wrong on purpose. You just encountered an unfortunate choice or situation.” Seriously? How is this teaching them to own their actions? Kids are pretty resilient. If you point out a mistake or sin, hopefully they’ll be responsive enough to want to fix it. The Bible is clear, too. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned”—not “encountered an unfortunate situation.” 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us” (ESV). If we aren’t calling sin sin, how can kids confess it?

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Suggested Reading: Psalm 119:59,, 1 John 1:9,, 2 Corinthians 13:5