Joshua, Caleb, and I sat on their bed the other night as we were preparing for them to go to sleep. I knew that some older boys on the bus had been calling them names and aggravating them, so I wanted to see how they were dealing with it. After talking with them, I discovered it wasn’t the older kids picking on them, it was a boy their age. Joshua and Caleb were upset because this young man would not listen to them as they told him about Jesus and God.

Who knows how five year olds explain the great truths of the Scriptures, but the other boy put his hands over his ears, shook his head, and said, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening.” My sons of thunder were upset that there was a person who would not listen to the stories of Jesus. It upset them that their friend did not know Him.

So I am praying for another night to sit on the bed with my boys and discuss not only that we need to tell others of Him, but that we should do it with “gentleness and respect.”

Perhaps we will look at 1 Peter 3:15-16 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”