The Parenting Moment
It happens in the most ordinary places. You are driving home from school, or tucking your child in for the night, or loading the dishwasher after tea, when the question lands like a stone in still water: “Mum, is Jesus actually real?” Your child’s eyes are wide and searching. They are not trying to upset you. They are doing something remarkably brave — they are thinking out loud about the most important question a human being can ask. How you respond in that moment matters far more than any Sunday school lesson they have ever sat through. When your child asks if Jesus is real, your answer has the power to open a lifetime of honest faith or quietly teach them that some questions are too dangerous to ask.
Biblical Foundation
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Moses did not instruct parents to outsource their children’s faith formation to priests and programmes alone. The Deuteronomy model is beautifully, stubbornly ordinary. Faith was meant to be woven into the texture of daily life — in kitchens and on dusty roads, at bedtime and at breakfast. The word “impress” here carries the sense of something being etched or engraved. It speaks of repetition, of patience, of presence. Not a single defining conversation, but a thousand small ones.
This matters enormously when your child raises doubts or hard questions about Jesus. Scripture does not picture faith as a fragile thing that shatters under honest inquiry. It pictures faith as something built gradually, relationally, and authentically — in the everyday moments parents so often underestimate. Your child’s question is not a crisis. It is an invitation, and Deuteronomy is telling you that you were made for this moment.
Practical Wisdom
- Celebrate the question before you answer it. Say something like, “That is such a brilliant question — I love that you are thinking about this.” Affirming curiosity signals that faith can handle honest investigation. Children who feel safe asking questions are far more likely to keep asking them as they grow.
- Be honest about your own journey. You do not need a polished testimony to be a good witness. Saying “There have been times I have wondered about that too, and here is what helped me” is more powerful than a rehearsed answer. Authenticity builds trust; scripts build walls.
- Share personal, concrete evidence rather than abstract doctrine. Instead of theological arguments, try: “I have prayed when I was frightened and felt a peace I cannot explain.” Real experience connects with children far more than propositional truth delivered at them.
- Use age-appropriate analogies with care. Younger children grasp faith through story and relationship. You might say, “We know the wind is real even though we cannot see it — we can feel it.” Older children and teenagers, however, deserve honest engagement with their actual doubts rather than deflection through analogy. Ask them what specifically is making them wonder.
- Invite ongoing dialogue rather than closing the conversation. End with an open door: “I don’t have every answer, but I would love to keep talking about this with you.” Research in child and adolescent faith development consistently shows that children raised in homes where doubt is permitted are more likely to hold a resilient, personal faith into adulthood — not less.
- Point them to Jesus himself, not just Christianity. Encourage your child to talk directly to Jesus about their uncertainty. Pray with them on the spot: “Jesus, if you are real, please show us.” This is not a reckless prayer — it is an invitation to the God who said, “Seek and you will find.”
- Read the Gospels together as a family. Let Jesus speak for himself. The Sermon on the Mount, the healing of the blind man, the raising of Lazarus — these narratives have a weight and a strangeness that theological summaries cannot replicate. Ask your child what they notice. Let them form impressions without rushing to correct them.
Encouragement for Parents
You do not need a theology degree to raise a child of faith. You need to be present, honest, and willing to sit with uncertainty alongside them. The fact that your child brings their biggest questions to you is itself a profound gift. It means they trust you. It means the relationship is working. God has not placed you in your child’s life as a dispenser of correct answers — He has placed you there as a living, breathing witness to what it looks like to walk with Jesus through real life, with all its complexity and beauty.
Some of the most faith-forming moments in your child’s life will not look spiritual at all. They will look like a quiet car journey, a late-night conversation at the kitchen table, or a bedtime prayer that trails off into silence. Trust the process. Trust the God who knit your child together and who knows them by name. He is more committed to their faith than you are, and He works gently, persistently, and always in love.
Family Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You that You welcome every question and every honest seeker. Give us homes where curiosity about You is celebrated, not feared. Help us as parents to be humble enough to say “I don’t know” and courageous enough to say “but let’s find out together.” Reveal Yourself to our children in ways they can understand and hold. May their faith be their own — rooted, real, and alive. Amen.
Has your child ever asked you a question about Jesus that stopped you in your tracks? Share it in the comments below — you might encourage another parent who is facing the very same moment. And if this post helped you, share it with a friend who is raising children in faith.