An Open Letter to our Children

Dear Children,

As we grown-ups talk about guns and school safety, I wonder what you are thinking. Are you afraid?  Are you confused?  Do you wish people would stop talking about scary things?

I want you to know, even though some of us are busy talking to each other about many things, we love you. We want a better world for you and the terrible thing that happened at the school in Florida makes us very sad.  We don’t want anyone to worry about being hurt at school, and we are working hard to come up with a plan that will make things safer for everyone.

I am writing to tell you two very important things.  You may know these things, but sometimes we forget what we know when we are scared or worried.  So I am writing to remind you.

The first thing I want you to know is that you are a precious child of God. It doesn’t matter where you are from, who takes care of you, how much money you have, what kind of clothes you wear or even how many mistakes you have made.  You are made in the image of God.  He created you and He loves you more than anyone in this world could possibly love you.

Did you know you are always popular in God’s eyes? There are a lot of things that make people popular in our world.  Sometimes people are popular because of the way they look or the things they have.  Neither of these things explain why you are popular with God.  God loves you just because you are you!

God knows, sometimes people in this world laugh at us and act like bullies to get their way. This makes God very sad because He knows how special we are, and He knows the things other people do to us can hurt us deep down inside.  But remember, God made you, inside and out, and He will always love you.

The second thing I want you to know is you have no reason to worry about tomorrow.  I know some bad things have happened, and the news on TV is scary.  But God has put many strong people in our lives to protect us.

The Bible tells us people have been doing bad things for thousands of years.  But when these bad things have happened, God has used good people to make the world better.  Because of the good people God has sent into the world, children have been able to grow up strong and happy.  Grown-ups have learned to get along with each other and help their neighbors.  Every time someone has done something very bad, God has sent someone to do something very good.  I believe God is doing the same thing today.  Right now, He is working through good people to help others who have had bad things happen in their lives.  He can even use you to do something good for others.

Maybe you have heard the best news of all! God loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross so every bad thing any of us have ever done could be taken away.  This is one of the ways God makes our world better.  He takes away the bad things in people who believe in His Son Jesus and helps them learn how to do good things.  God is so good to us!  If you want to know more about how God’s Son Jesus takes away the bad things in our lives, ask grown-ups who know Him.  They can tell you all about this good news!

Before I finish my letter, I want to tell you about a young man who did a very brave thing when other people who loved God were scared. His name was David.  One day David heard a giant named Goliath say some terrible things about God and the people who loved God.  Sadly, the people who loved God were so frightened they couldn’t find the courage to stop the giant.  But David asked the king of God’s people, whose name was Saul, to let him fight the giant.  At first, Saul discouraged David.  Then he tried to put his armor for grown-ups on him, but it was too heavy.  Finally, David went out to meet the giant with nothing but a sling and five smooth stones he took out of a creek.  The people of God who were afraid of Goliath must have thought David was crazy!  Do you know what happened next?  God took care of David and one of the stones from his sling struck the giant in the forehead.  The mighty giant fell down with a big “crash” and David killed him.  Then the people of God celebrated because of David’s courage and his victory over the giant.

Here is the lesson we learn from David: We should never be afraid of big people, or big things.  No matter what they do, we will always be precious children of God and God will always send good people to make tomorrow better.  He will even do good things through us if we are courageous like David.

It’s ok to be scared when bad things happen. It’s also good to run away from bad people or to stop them if you can.  Just remember: no one can stop God!  And the good news is, He is on our side!

I love you and I dream about the wonderful things you are going to do in your life. God already knows what those things are because He put them in you.  I will have to wait and see.  Then I will praise God when I see what He does through you!

Be brave like David,

Mr. Larry