Sin, Consequences, and Grace: How To Navigate Difficult Bible Stories With Kids

What do we do with those uncomfortable Bible stories when children are listening? You know the ones—David's affair with Bathsheba, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or pretty much the entire book of Judges. As parents and Sunday School teachers, our instinct might be to skip these passages altogether, saving them for when kids are "old enough." But could this well-meaning approach actually deprive children of crucial spiritual understanding?

After a Holy Spirit moment that challenged her own approach, Alexis Heaslip dives into why we shouldn't shy away from teaching difficult Bible stories to children. Drawing from her experiences as both a mother and kindergarten Sunday School teacher preparing to tackle David and Bathsheba's story, she offers practical guidance for presenting these narratives in age-appropriate ways while preserving their powerful spiritual lessons.

The Bible doesn't sanitize humanity's struggles—and perhaps that's exactly the point. These uncomfortable stories reveal the depth of human brokenness and our desperate need for a Savior. When children encounter biblical heroes who made terrible mistakes yet found forgiveness, they develop a more authentic understanding of sin, consequences, and God's unfailing grace. Through the example of David's repentance in Psalm 51, we see a beautiful model of genuine contrition that children can understand and apply to their own lives.

Beyond teaching about sin and forgiveness, these challenging passages develop critical thinking skills and biblical discernment—tools our children urgently need in today's confusing cultural landscape. Contrary to what we might assume, kids are tremendously perceptive and often grasp profound spiritual concepts when given the opportunity. Their questions about these stories frequently reveal deeper theological thinking than we give them credit for.

Ready to approach difficult Bible passages with confidence? Discover how to use age-appropriate language, focus on key themes rather than explicit details, highlight God's character, and create safe spaces for children to process and ask questions. Whether you're a parent, Sunday School teacher, or someone passionate about discipling the next generation, this episode equips you with practical strategies for teaching the whole Bible—not just the comfortable parts.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Teaching Hard Bible Stories
• 4:32 Why We Can't Ignore The Hard Stories
• 7:29 Children Need Examples of Sin's Consequences
• 9:47 Reinforcing God's Grace Through Human Failure
• 11:36 Developing Critical Thinking and Discernment
• 16:14 The David and Bathsheba Example
• 21:36 Practical Approaches for Age-Appropriate Teaching
• 31:38 Praying Through Psalm 51

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hi there and welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe. I'm Alexis Heaslip and I am striving and praying to be a Proverbs 31 woman of faith. I am so excited to be back again with you guys and I have decided, after praying about it and having a little Holy Spirit moment this past week, to cover something that, as a mom and as a Sunday school teacher, something that's really been put on my heart, and that is how to approach stories in the Bible that are really hard, that are really can sometimes be explicit, and how to teach them to our children in a way that is appropriate and impactful. So buckle up. This episode's going to be exciting and thought-provoking and I hope you guys enjoy this journey with me. Today. Let's dive on in.

Speaker 1: 1:12

So, in starting this discussion, the first part of this discussion that I really think is important is we need to talk about and recognize that the Bible is the word of God. It is powerful, it is active, it is sharper than a two-edged sword, and the whole Bible, not just the fun stories, the whole Bible, from genesis 1 to revelation, is important and it is something that we should be teaching our children. It is the word of god and it we are called as parents who want our children to know the lord, we are called in Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 9, to teach the word of God to our children, day and night, when we're on the road, when we lie down, when we get up. It is our duty, it is our great commission as parents to teach our children the word of God, and that means the whole word of God, not just the stories that we like, like David fighting Goliath, or like Noah in the ark, or like the amazing parables of Jesus. It's so much more than that. Our duty is to use the word of God to show why we, as people, need a savior, because we are all sinners who make mistakes.

Speaker 1: 2:47

So I'm going to be using a Bible story as an example throughout today's podcast. That's really hard, even for adults to talk about because it's uncomfortable. However, god's Word uncomfortable. However, god's word is something that we can learn so much from, and I'm gonna discuss the why. So why should we not ignore the hard and difficult stories, like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, like the story of how there's just so many, like the whole story of judges? That whole book of the Bible could be an HBO explicit show. Let's get real. Another example there's just so many of how the Israelites rebelled over and over again in the desert and built a golden calf and held an orgy.

Speaker 1: 3:52

Okay, also, there's other examples throughout scripture and first and second Kings, and some of these Kings of Israel did some pretty ratchet things, all right, but, but over and over again, we see how God uses our human brokenness and shows the reality of our human brokenness through these true and hard stories in the Bible, so that we can learn that we cannot do life on our own. And that is my first point. These hard but true stories in the Bible are really important because it shows the reality of human brokenness. And this is something our kids need. All right, our kids need to know that they are not perfect. Our kids need to be humbled. Our kids need to learn that even these amazing characters in the Bible, that even these amazing characters in the Bible, like Noah, like David, like Moses, they were just people. And, trust me, if you open up the word of God and just read for even a couple of verses, you will quickly see they made some big mistakes, Just like you and I do every single day, and they sinned, just like you and I sin. And these hard stories, these hard, true stories of people that we look up to in the. They can help our kids understand just how sin is in every part of our life and the depth of sin and why we need grace from our redeeming God. We can't shy away from these stories, we can't. We can't shy away from these stories, we can't.

Speaker 1: 6:08

I have seen firsthand, as a Sunday school teacher and someone who's wanting to be a teacher and someone who's worked in a classroom of the reality of parents not telling their children no and the reality of parents not disciplining their children and just telling their children oh you're just so perfect. Oh, they're just so perfect. Oh, they just have a spicy personality without any consequences. I've seen what that's like and the way that children behave when there are no consequences, when they're not getting told no, when they're not given examples of why you shouldn't do something, and it's horrifying. It's horrifying. I'm sure if you have a friend who's a teacher, you've heard some horrific stories of classroom behavior, management, of how children are acting wild and it's because parents are failing at discipling their kids. Okay, that's the root of it. Parents are failing at disciplining their kids. Parents are failing at discipling their kids, and that's why I feel like it's so important that we talk about why we should not ignore these Bible stories and why discipleship begins in the home. And this really leads to.

Speaker 1: 7:27

My second point is that kids need examples of the consequences of sin. Kids really need these examples of consequences of our sin, whether that is from people's mistakes that we see in the Bible who are in the list of heroes of the faith, or whether that's from us coming to our own children when we make mistakes and saying I've messed up and these are the consequences for my own actions. And this is why it's so important that we have these discussions with our children. It's so important that we have these discussions with our children and we need to tell them and demonstrate to them through our own actions and through teaching them the stories in the Bible that our free will choices because we get to make choices God does not make us like robots where he controls our actions. We have the free will to choose to follow him or to disobey, but we need to set the example that our free will choices have big and real consequences. That is important and I fear that many kids are not being discipled in this biblical truth and that's scary.

Speaker 1: 8:46

The third point I want to make Is that when we look at big mess ups in the Bible and, like I said, there's a lot of them, there's so many of them it reinforces the message of God's amazing grace and redemption. And what really sparked me on this journey this week is my Sunday school lesson, for this Sunday is on a story that's really hard, and we've been talking about David and how David was a man after God's own heart and how he loved the Lord and he was a great and mighty king. But this Sunday in my Sunday school class and my kindergarten Sunday school class, we are going to be talking about David's choice to sin today and hurt Bathsheba and Uriah and get him killed, and how he only repented after God called him out through the prophet Nathan. And boy oh boy, is that a hard moment in the Bible to discuss. But it is so important because time and time again in the Bible we see beautiful outcomes through imperfect people. And although David, he did some horrible things, horrible things, things he had true repentance after being rebuked and he was restored. And it is a beautiful moment to reflect and thank God and get on our knees in thanksgiving and praise because God's mercy and forgiveness. It doesn't ever stop if you seek it and ask for it, and he will forgive the greatest of sins, and that's why we cannot shy away from these hard but important stories. No sin is too big for God to forgive, as seen through the life of so many of our heroes throughout the Bible.

Speaker 1: 11:17

My fourth point is this Is that when we go and are not shy with our children about these difficult passages in scripture, we help them develop discernment and critical thinking skills. I don't know about you guys, but with the rise of AI, with the rise of our kids having access to all the information in the world at their fingertips, whether they have a smartphone which my kids will not be getting anytime soon or an iPad, or have access to their parents being able to look up information, access to their parents being able to look up information there's a lack and it's for adults too of critical thinking and discernment nowadays, and that's something that is not natural to us. We have to be taught how to discern. We have to be taught how to think critically, discern, we have to be taught how to think critically, and these are tools that you can use in all aspects of life. And what better way to do that than through the word of God? And with the word of God our sense of morality is shaped, our sense of human dignity and worth is shaped. Everything that matters comes from the word of God, and it is through learning the word of God that our children can learn and know what is right and what is wrong. So that way, when they go out into the world and the world is telling them that yes means no and no means yes, they can be critical thinkers who know the truth and speak the truth back to the world of darkness and love. And their brains can start churning over these ideas starting at a young age.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Because guess what? Kids are way smarter than what we give them credit for and they ask some amazing questions. I get some amazing questions in my Sunday school group and I've had some amazing questions when I was at Vacation Bible School teaching. Kids really do think more critically than what we give them credit for. They're not just thinking about ice cream and rocks and what to do next outdoors. They have some deep thoughts and some big, important questions, like one little girl asked me at Vacation Bible School how can God be everywhere at once? That's an amazing critical thinking question, and when kids ask these type of questions and feel like they're in a safe environment to be able to ask these questions, they can be asking all sorts of questions like what is right versus wrong? What does the bible say about that? What does the bible say about justice and forgiveness and personal accountability? These are all the types of questions or like why, why do people choose to go to hell? Why do people not believe in god there? These are the questions I've had asked by five-year-olds okay, by five and six-year-olds Kids.

Speaker 1: 14:53

When given the opportunity and when they feel safe, they ask a lot of really amazing and powerful questions and this prepares them for these real world issues that they will unfortunately experience or have already experienced. It will prepare them for real world issues like death or divorce or losing a friend or a loved one. It will prepare them for times in life where they're being told that a girl can be a boy and a boy can be a girl, and if you want to say you're a cat, you can say you're a cat. That is the world we are living in, that is the world our children are living in, and when we give them the space to learn about what the word of God says when we sin against him and how God does judge, but he also shows mercy. They will be prepared. They will be prepared to answer these deep questions and to defend the word of God with sincere hearts, hearts. And the last point I wanted to make before putting this into action is that by going through these hard but important passages throughout scripture, it will strengthen their trust in the word of God, in scriptures themselves, and it shows us, all of us, that the word of God is reliable and is the truth.

Speaker 1: 16:34

Transparency means trust and authenticity. If the word of God, if the Bible, just wanted to make itself look good, they would just include all the stories about how David fought a giant, how Moses parted the Red Sea, how Noah built an ark, but leave out the rest of the yuck. They wouldn't have included. People wouldn't have included in the Bible how Mary and Joseph weren't married. They wouldn't have included things like Jesus dying on the cross. No, none of these things would have been included. They would not have included how Israel was carried off into exile. But because all of the humanity and the sin is included, we can see how our God is a God of consistent mercy and love. Yes, he uses justice, he is a just God, but he is a consistent God who loves us and wants us to be in relation with him, loves us and wants us to be in relation with him. And by going through the yuck and the human travesty and their hard-heartedness stories, we can see how our God is a God of truth and redemption. And now we're going to pivot. And now we're going to pivot, now that we've talked about why it's important to talk about on David and Bathsheba, we're going to be talking and using that moment in scripture as our example, and so, if you're not familiar with the story, it can be found in 2 Samuel, 11 and 12, as well as Psalm 51.

Speaker 1: 18:48

I'm not going to read all the passages, but I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. David was king of Israel and he was a mighty king, and every year the kings would go out and fight each other for land and for property, and instead of David being and doing the things that kings do, he had stayed behind in Jerusalem. So, problem number one, he was not doing his job. Problem number two, he had spotted Bathsheba, a beautiful woman who was married to one of David's generals, uriah and he had Uriah and he had peeping Tommy Lee been watching her bathe and he forced his guards to go get her and bring her to him and have sex with her. All right, whether Beth Sheba wanted to come is up for debate. I I don't think so. I really don't think she wanted to. She was forced to by guards and then, and then finds out she's pregnant, oh no. So David tries to get Uriah to come back to Jerusalem because he, uriah, has been noble and been fighting the battles, like, like he was supposed to. And he told him no, no, no, I have to stay with my men. And David kept insisting Uriah would come back and he wouldn him. No, no, no, I have to stay with my men. And david kept insisting uriah would come back and he wouldn't do it. So david, strike three already does something horrific. He makes sure that uriah is on the front lines so that he will get killed in battle and he dies. And then he marries Bathsheba and she's pregnant.

Speaker 1: 20:40

But God sends the prophet Nathan to David to tell him a story about a sheep and how the sheep was mistreated. And David got all upset saying you can't do that, that that person should get in trouble and Nathan's like well, I hate to break it to you, but you're the person in that story who has stolen the sheep. And David truly does repent. But God, being a God of justice, told him look, your child's going to be born but not survive. And David's son died and David wept and mourned but then had a repentant and contrite heart and cried out to God and he was truly repentant and he was forgiven. And he was forgiven. And this really dark moment in his life is what, uh? Is what inspired him to write Psalm 51, which is a really famous Psalm. You know um part of the Psalm says create in me a clean heart, oh God. And it's a really powerful song, psalm that I might read at the end, and it talks about forgiveness and begging for forgiveness. So that's the little Cliff Notes version of the story.

Speaker 1: 22:06

But how do you go about telling a really dark story like this to kids? Do you go about it? The first thing that you really need to consider when talking about an important but hard and dark story like this that's found in the bible, dark story like this that's found in the Bible is to find a way to first of all, know the age of your children that you're going to be talking to and start with language that is appropriate for the child's age right. Find a way to frame the story in a way that highlights the moral and spiritual lesson, without necessarily using graphic details. We don't have to say that David assaulted Bathsheba sexually. We can say that David made Bathsheba come to him against her will, but we don't have to say that he sexually assaulted her. We don't have to say that. So there's ways to go about it.

Speaker 1: 23:29

When they're younger especially, especially like when I'm talking to my kindergartners, I'm just going to make a point of saying that David brought Bathsheba to his palace and she didn't want to go right. That's one way we can start and as they get older, you can explore more into the nitty gritty, right. So focus on themes rather than explicit content. We can highlight, especially with younger children, like elementary age, how David was disobedient. We can highlight his disobedience. We can talk about the consequences of his actions and how Uriah died because of his actions. We can talk about repentance, what that means and forgiveness. Because, like I said, we don't have to use the explicit details. We don't have to go into full detail, but we can still talk about these key ideas Because children understand what disobedience is and consequences and as they get older, we can go further into the details, because as they get older and more mature, they will understand and see and maybe have lived through a parent going through an affair, a parent going through a divorce, and they will be able to relate to the content as they get older.

Speaker 1: 25:08

Like I said, you just have to know the kids you're talking to and the language that you feel is appropriate for them and the language that you feel is appropriate for them. And the third thing that you can do is you can use these stories to highlight God's character. You can point to God's justice, how God is a God of justice, how God is a God of mercy and a God of forgiveness. God loved David, but that love doesn't change the fact that David sinned. But even though it made God sad and David was punished for his sin, god showed him mercy and love through compassion Once David came back to God in repentance. And that is something that we can really emphasize in this moment that our God is a God who is waiting, always with open arms, and he wants us to always come to him, no matter what we've done and that is something you could really drive home with your kids. And the fourth thing that you can do is take a moment during your lesson whether this is at home and you're just reading through the Bible with your kids, whether you teach at a Christian school and you teach Bible as part of your curriculum, or a homeschooling parent.

Speaker 1: 26:49

Invite the kids to an open dialogue and let them process what they've learned, let them ask questions, let them move along the conversation and let them wrestle with what they're learning. Let them guide the conversation. It is amazing how many times a child has brought up something when we've gone over a Bible story, and it's something I would have never even thought about. Jesus literally says in the gospel let the children come to me, and he wants us to have a childlike faith. And if you have kids, you know they are full of questions and ideas and they are curious and they want to learn and they want to please and they are resilient little buggers, and that's how Jesus wants all of us to be when coming to him. And although, like I said, these are hard stories, the children really do get it. They really do get it and even though, like I said, some of these stories are hard. They're hard and they're painful, but they can connect these biblical truths to their lives.

Speaker 1: 28:17

Unfortunately, we live in a world in the United States where 50% of marriages end in divorce and the kids are extremely impacted by that. It doesn't matter whether you think or not, the kids are deeply impacted by that and there could be children in your classroom, in your Sunday school class, in your neighborhood, in your community that have gone through a moment in their personal life where their family has been ripped apart by infidelity. And this is a moment where they can see how our God is a merciful God who loves anyone who comes and he loves everyone, and that this sin is. It breaks god's heart, it totally breaks god's heart, but it can be forgiven. It also shows them the importance of integrity and of telling the truth, because your actions have consequences. And it also shows the kids the importance of owning up to their mistakes and not crying wolf and not trying to blame others.

Speaker 1: 29:53

No one likes to be friends with a liar. No one likes to be friends with a liar. No one likes to be around someone who cries wolf all the time, because if you continue to cry wolf just like the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you keep lying over and over again, one day people aren't going to come and help you anymore, because they just don't believe you. So these are just some ways that kids can really connect to a story that you, as an adult, might think is so hard. But there are some beautiful truths to be found, truths to be found, and the last thing that we can do with these hard stories is to pray through the story together and look at how the people in the story turn to God in their moments of defeat, in their moments of failure and their moments of darkness. And that is what I'm really excited to do on Sunday with my kids. And we're going to be able to see how, through David's realization that he sinned, he called out to God in repentance and praised the Lord and asked God to be gracious and compassionate to him. So I want to end this by reading Psalm 51 together. So if you'll turn with me, let's turn to Psalm 51. So we can just like our kids when we are talking to them and teaching them about the word of God. We can learn what it means to turn to God and ask for help when we mess up all right.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Psalm 51 for the music director, a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him after he went to Bathsheba. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you you only. Have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are just when you speak and blameless when you judge? Behold, I was born in iniquity and in sin when my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner being. Make me know wisdom inwardly. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, so the bones you crush may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me out from your presence. Take not your spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guilt, o God, god of my salvation. Then my tongue will sing for joy of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise, for you would not delight in sacrifice or I would not give it, nor be pleased by burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

Speaker 1: 33:57

You see, david has just given us a beautiful example of what it what it means to have a true, contrite heart, and he really walks us through the ABCs of salvation that we, as parents, try to teach our children so that they can come to know Jesus as the Lord and accept him in his heart. David admitted to God. He was a sinner and he repented and he turned away from his sins. Jesus believed in God. No, jesus, david believed in God. Now, this is before Messiah had come. But David trusted in God and he loved in God. And if Jesus were to have come during the time of David, david would have seen Jesus as Messiah and he would have accepted his gift of forgiveness. And that's what we, as believers in Messiah, are called to do is to believe in Jesus and accept his gift of forgiveness. And he confessed his faith in God in this Psalm. And we are called to confess our faith in God, our Messiah, redeemer, jesus. So we are like David. We are sinners, we make mistakes, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but through these deep and emotional stories that are found all throughout scriptures, we see the power of God's redeeming love, and I pray that this is something that you can take to feel comfort and to feel bold and brave in teaching your kids through these hard stories so that they can truly come to know who our Lord Messiah is.

Speaker 1: 35:48

This is Alexis Heaslip from Proverbs 31 Wannabe. I hope you loved today's episode. I hope you loved today's episode. If you loved today's episode, could you please give us a review wherever you're listening to podcasts, and a like? We would love if you found us on social media, on Instagram, on Facebook, proverbs 31 Wannabe. We would love to hear from you Until next time. This is Alexis Heaslip. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day, god bless. Bye now.