I tell this story to show you where kids’ hearts will naturally go, even when we teach well. I’d taught a good-news lesson. I’d carefully avoided moralizing, instead showing God’s love and our blessings in Christ. I’d encouraged the kids to believe that good news above all. Even so, in their hearts they’d turned it into nothing but a what-you-must-do-for-God lesson. This is the way everyone’s heart naturally works. Our kids are programmed to try to earn points with God. Like a piece of electronics shipped from the factory with default settings, they’re preset not to believe the good news. This
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