Sin can be a challenging concept to teach to children, especially in today’s world where sin is not only tolerated but often celebrated. But as Christians, we know that sin is real and it damages our relationship with God. We are in a spiritual battle…good versus evil, truth versus lies, light versus darkness, virtue versus vice…and the greatest battle lies within. Every day, we make hundreds of choices, and so do our kids. If we want happy, healthy, and holy children, we must teach them to make good decisions and seek what is good, true, and beautiful.
Five Steps To Teaching Kids To Conquer Sin
Step 1: Put the Mission Everywhere!
The ultimate goal of every Catholic is to become a saint…or at least it should be. And our goal as parents, grandparents, pastors, and educators is to raise saints. Everything in Catholicism has one purpose: to make us saints. Everyone in heaven is a saint, and we want our kids to strive for holiness because heaven is the goal. When it comes to kids, repetition is key. I challenge you to put the mission everywhere! Put the words, “Become a Saint” all over your house. Put it on every alarm clock, on every bathroom mirror, on the snack cupboards, refrigerators, computers, televisions, above every door (especially where they leave the house)…put it everywhere that choices are made. Over the last 10 years, I have distributed approximately 60,000 black wristbands with the words, “Become A Saint. Be Not Afraid,” and all my family members wear one. The last words of our family prayer each night are, “Make us saints, Lord, no matter what the cost.” By the time my kids graduate from high school, they will have heard these words at least 6500 times, and they will know my dream for them is to become the saint God created them to be.
Step 2: Identify the Obstacles to the Mission…DRAGONS!
Once you have firmly established the mission, then it will be easier to talk about the obstacles to the mission and why they are obstacles. We must study our opponents and know who we are up against if we are to be victorious. But here’s the thing: kids don’t always respond well to a list of rules or a simple list of what is right and what is wrong. But I have yet to meet a kid who didn’t want to be a dragon slayer! Let’s define our terms. Dragons are sins, temptations, and obstacles to becoming saints. There are thousands of everyday dragons your kids will face…screen time, too much comfort or wealth, bullies, laziness, instant gratification, unhealthy eating habits…but all of these “dragons” stem from 7 Deadly Dragons: Pride, Envy, Sloth, Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, and Lust.
What if we gave these dragons a name (and a color on the visible light spectrum)? What if we drew a picture of them so kids could visualize the dragon? What if we describe the symptoms and the strategies of these dragons and teach kids how to recognize their stench? What if we wrote stories about these dragons that captured the imagination of children and taught them how to slay each and every dragon? That was our goal in writing the 7 Deadly Dragons Book Series. Stories are powerful. If you want your kids to know the truth, teach them the truth. If you want them to love, live, and remember the truth, tell them stories.
Here’s the thing…if your children are intrigued by stories and they start to study each dragon, that is a powerful weapon for you as a parent or grandparent. When your child is being “wounded by a dragon,” all you have to do is name the dragon. Kids don’t want to lose to the dragons.
Step 3: Teach Kids that Sacraments Give Healing and Power to Slay All Dragons
If the Son shall set you free, you are free indeed. Jesus has the antivenom to all dragon wounds. Jesus has the cure to sin and death. Let’s teach our kids that we all get wounded by dragons, but Jesus gave us sacraments to give us healing, mercy, and the most powerful force in the universe to slay a dragon….the grace and love of God. Reconciliation is a major theme in all our stories.
Step 4: Give Kids the Armor of God to Protect Them
The armor of God given to us by St. Paul is spiritual armor that can keep us safe from dragon wounds. Holy water also helps. Use sacramentals and bless your kids with holy water every day. We spray our gardens for weeds and spray our pets for fleas…shouldn’t we spray our kids for demons?
Step 5: Train Kids in the Weapons of Virtue
This present darkness has ruled long enough. It’s time to fight back! Not with guns and bombs—they are powerless against real dragons. We fight back with the weapons of virtue, and these weapons are on full display in our book series. Under the training of a holy priest as a guild master, the stories feature the Sword of Humility to slay the red dragon of pride, the Ballista of Admiration to slay the orange dragon of envy, the Spear of Zeal to slay the yellow dragon of sloth, the Trebuchet of Generosity to slay the green dragon of greed, the Dagger of Forgiveness to slay the blue dragon of wrath, the Ax of Temperance to slay the indigo dragon of gluttony, and the Bow and Arrow of Chastity to slay the violet dragon of lust.
I hope these five steps and our new book series will be useful tools for parents and educators in teaching kids to win the spiritual battle within and face, fight, and defeat the seven deadly dragons.
So, stay holy, and go slay some dragons!
Sir Rolland Paterlot, Faithful Knight to the One True Light
The 7 Deadly Dragons (7 book series)
From Book 1:
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS as young Sir Rolland enrolls in the secret Dragon Slayers Academy in his quest to become a Knight of Light.
In this first chronicle, Sir Rolland comes to discover what a real dragon is, and he is badly wounded by the first and deadliest of all dragons. With the help of his guild master and a legendary Lady of Grace, he must find healing and learn the weapon and armor needed to obtain the greatest and only real power to slay a dragon.
Image: Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash
