Teach Them the Whole Bible

The first children’s book I ever read to my baby girl was not what I expected. Entitled Children’s Stories by J.C. Ryle, I opened it expecting something soft, simple something like a Christian twist on Goldilocks. Instead, I found a story based on 2 Kings 2:23–24, where Elisha is mocked by a group of boys and two she-bears come out of the forest and maul forty-two of them.

It caught me off guard. Is this really the first story I want to share with my daughter? Part of me wanted to skip to something safer. But another part the part shaped by conviction that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16) knew better. And as I read, God taught me something powerful about parenting.

We don’t just read Scripture to our children for comfort. We read it to teach them truth even when that truth comes wrapped in warning. Especially then.

Here are five lessons that story taught me about leading our children through all of Scripture, even its shadows.

1. Mind the Company They Keep

Not every one of the forty-two boys who died may have been mocking Elisha. But all of them were with those who did. The bears didn’t ask questions. They responded to the scene.

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20).

Our children will be shaped by their friends. That’s not legalism it’s biblical wisdom. We must teach them to love most those who love God most, and to choose their companions carefully. Watching over their social lives is not meddling. It’s shepherding.

2. Don’t Soften Sin’s Cost

We cringe when children suffer. That’s natural. But Scripture doesn’t hide from us that sin is serious even for the young. Sin is not just a childish phase or a moment of bad behavior. It is, fundamentally, rebellion against a holy God.

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That’s not just a grown-up problem.

If we present sin as merely “mistakes” or “oopsies,” we risk minimizing the rescue Jesus offers. Small views of sin lead to small views of Christ. The sobering justice of 2 Kings prepares young hearts to understand the radical mercy of the cross.

3. Watch Your Own Walk

Bethel, where the mockers came from, was a hotbed of Israel’s idolatry. The children likely mirrored the cynicism and contempt they heard at home. And Scripture had warned this would happen: “I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children” (Leviticus 26:22).

Your pursuit of holiness is not just about you it’s about your children. The legacy of our faith (or compromise) lives in our homes. The mocking of prophets often begins with the murmurs of parents.

4. Christ Is for Children

If those boys were old enough to mock Elisha, they were old enough to know better. And if they were old enough to sin in defiance of God’s prophet, they were also old enough to know God’s mercy.

Jesus welcomed children not as an afterthought, but as examples. He said, “Let the little children come to me . . . for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).

The gospel isn’t a message our children grow into. It’s the air they should breathe from the beginning. If they’re old enough to sin, they’re old enough to be saved.

5. Give Them the Whole Bible

The world is not shy about its agenda. Children today are introduced early to books like Heather Has Two Mommies or Prince and Knight. If the culture is bold about its brokenness, why are we hesitant with God’s truth?

Of course, wisdom is needed. We tailor the details to their age, but we don’t censor Scripture. There’s no “safe edit” of God’s Word that’s still true. To withhold parts of the Bible because they’re uncomfortable is to set ourselves as editors over God.

Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words . . . of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed” (Mark 8:38). That includes the uncomfortable words. The confusing words. The severe and glorious words. Our kids need them all.

Shadows That Lead to Light

Reading about two bears tearing into a crowd of mocking boys may not feel like a parenting moment you treasure. But the shadows in Scripture teach us just as much as the light. They warn us, prepare us, and most importantly lead us to the Savior who bore the wrath we all deserve.

Lead your children through those shadows. Teach them reverence. Show them that God is not a mascot or myth, but a living, holy Lord. Then show them Jesus not as the soft escape from the hard parts of the Bible, but as the Lamb who stands amid the fire, full of mercy and majesty.

Because in the end, they need the whole Bible. And even more, they need the God who gave it.

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