The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

THE FIVE FINGER GOSPEL | A Handful of Truths to Lead a Child to Christ | Convo #3: Jesus Died for You!

• Tosha Williams for FDM

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The middle finger often gets a bad rap in our culture, and for good reason. It’s used to express anger, disrespect, and even hate. But what if we could redeem it? In this episode of "The Five Finger Gospel," we take what’s often seen as negative and reframe it as a powerful symbol of love: our tallest finger reminds us of the tall, tall cross where Jesus died for us. What looked like a moment of defeat became the foundation of our hope.

Romans 5:8 declares, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus didn’t wait for us to be good enough—He took our place, paid our debt, and made a way. This conversation equips parents and mentors to talk honestly and gently with kids about sin, death, forgiveness, and eternal life without shame or fear.

Host Tosha Williams shares personal stories of spiritual awareness in young children—including a toddler’s surprising understanding of death—and offers gospel-centered conversation guides for everyday discipleship moments: around the table, during car rides, or at bedtime.

Whether you’re just beginning or ready to grow deeper, this episode gives you a hand full of truths about the Gospel. The devotion-driven discipleship guide that accompanies this episode is available on the soon-to-be-released Family Disciple Me app!

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

SPEAKER_00:

Hey there, friends. Welcome back to the Family Disciple Me Ministry, and well to our next finger as we continue in our conversation collection, the Five Finger Gospel. I'm so glad that you're here with me today. And well, in the last episode, I told you that in this episode, we were going to talk about a truth from the middle finger. Now, the poor middle finger gets a really bad rap in our culture, does it not? But I believe that in this conversation, we can use something that the world meant for evil to teach something good in Jesus' name. So as we continue in the five-finger gospel, I want to encourage you that these are simple, powerful truths that we can use to lead the next generation, whether it's our kids, our grandkids, our nieces and nephews, kids at church, kids in our neighborhood, kids at school, whoever it is that God entrusts to us, whatever their age and state, we can use the five-finger gospel to lead them closer to Him. And today we're going to consider the oh so important truth that Jesus died for you. This is the very heart of the gospel. You know, understanding this piece of the gospel was something that the grown-ups in my life impressed upon me when I was teeny tiny. I was being taught the truths of God's word even when I was two and three years old that Jesus died for me. The adults in my life, they didn't shy away from teaching me this truth about the gospel. And I'm so glad that they didn't, because they helped form in me an awareness that eternity is real. Death is real, but so is the power of Jesus' love. His love is so powerful that he died for me, little old me. And that's why I gave my life to Jesus just a month after turning four years old, because they had been explaining to me the truth that Jesus died for me. I'll never forget that day when, as a mom, my youngest daughter at the time stepped outside and saw this little batch of chicks that we had in a cage on our porch, and she came right back in and said, Dim's dead. Like, how did she know what that means? I hadn't talked to her specifically about death at that point. Who wants to talk to their children about death? It breaks our hearts when we have to talk to little ones about death. We want to avoid that with our children. And yet death is real, is it not? Eternity is real. And I believe that God has placed an awareness of death inside every human heart because we're born into a world that's broken. As parents, we want to protect the next generation from pain. We don't want to talk to our grandchildren about death. We don't want to talk to other children about death. But even if we don't talk about it, death has a way of showing up. And it sparks questions. It can spark confusion. It can spark fear. But what if, what if we use those moments and even create moments about it to become holy invitations to point our children to Jesus' death and to the hope of the cross. I believe that's the invitation that we have today in the five-finger gospel, because you see, death is real, but so is Jesus. And he faced death for us so that we could live, truly live. In this collection of conversations, we started out by talking about Psalm 78, verse 4. We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders that he has done. This mission statement reminds us to lead those that God has entrusted to us to know Jesus in every way. And one thing that they must know and they must understand about his deeds, his power, the wonders he has done is the truth about his death. So, friend, go ahead, hold up your left hand, palm facing out again. I told you we were gonna get to this middle finger, so let's do it, okay? Right now, let's wiggle this middle finger. Remember what the world means for evil, God can use for good. And as terrible as this finger has come to be, it also reminds us, this tallest finger on our hand. It reminds us of the tall, tall cross where Jesus gave his life for us. This truth in the five-finger gospel is that Jesus died for you. As we think about this truth, we remember what God's word says in our key verse, Romans chapter 5, verse 8. God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Let that truth sink in. Jesus didn't wait for us to be perfect. He didn't demand that we clean ourselves up or become older or become better or become something else. No, while we were still sinners, he loved us so much that he died for us. The truth is, every single one of us has sinned. We've all done wrong things, whether it's lying, being unkind, being selfish, being judgmental, being disobedient, being unforgiving. The list goes on and on. Sin separates us from God, and sin has consequences. But the thing is, God didn't leave us stuck in that separation. Instead, he sent Jesus, his perfect, sinless son, to take our place on a tall, tall cross. This this cross, this finger, not just a symbol, not just a symbol. You see, when Jesus died on the tall, tall cross, he became our substitution. He took our place. He paid the price for your sin, for my sin, even for the sins of the little ones entrusted to us so that we could all be forgiven. We could all be set free. As we consider this, I believe that especially with our littlest ones, there can become this reaction of we don't want to talk to them about sin. But the thing is, if we raise them to think that they are all good and not to be aware of what's hidden in their hearts, then we remove the power of the gospel. As a three-year-old, a three-year-old, I was very aware that I was a sinner. Oh yes, my sins were very different back then than they are today. My sins were the sins of unkindness to my baby sister. I remember pinching her as we were in the pack and play together while my mom and my grandma were picking berries. I remember my mother turning around and looking at my little sister Shannon and saying, Why is she crying? And I was like, I have no idea why she's crying. I had just pinched her. I was the reason she was crying. And yet, on top of that sin, I added another sin. I became a liar. That was three years old. Our children are sinners. We're all sinners. We're all broken. We're all prone to do the wrong things, to be sinful people. It's part of our nature. And yet, God doesn't leave us stuck there. And I was blessed to have adult leaders who love Jesus, who told me the truth of the gospel. When they started out with Jesus Sees Me, I knew he saw what I did in that pack and play. I knew he saw when I was sticking out my tongue, disrespecting my mother behind the corner. I knew he saw me, but I also knew the truth that he loved me. And we get to teach that to the next generation. But it's not just about love. On a tall, tall cross. Thing is, just like I was beginning to understand the truths of the gospel when I was a tiny little girl. I believe that our kids are far more spiritually aware than we often realize, than we often give them credit for. Just like my little one recognized death that day on the porch, our children know that things aren't perfect in this world. If they have siblings, they experience the rub of the brokenness. If they have classmates at school, they understand sin. They understand when things aren't right. And that's why this third truth of the gospel is so important for us to share. God doesn't just see us, He doesn't just love us. He died for us. He did something for us to heal the brokenness that's a part of every single one of our lives. He loved us so much that he acted on that love by giving his life. And friends, that is a truth that we must share with the next generation. When we talk about his death, we're not trying to scare our kids. I'm not talking about being cruel and unkind to them and putting more anxiety in their hearts. I'm talking about grounding them in the truth of God's word, teaching them the greatest hope that the world has ever known and will ever known. Because the thing is, the story that Jesus died for you, well, it doesn't end in death. It ends, and this is what we have to remember: it ends in eternal life. And that's where we get to the amazing truth of John chapter 3, verse 16, this oh so familiar verse that says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Anyone who believes in him will not die, but have eternal life. And Acts chapter 2, verse 21 says, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So how do we respond? We believe, we trust, we seek him and we say, Yes, Jesus, I believe that you died for me. And then as we seek him, we get to speak him. That's a conversation that we get to lead the next generation into. That's a prayer, a truth that we get to model for them. That's the beginning of conversations about not just death, but eternal life. So now as we continue in the five-finger gospel, who is it in your life that needs to hear this truth? Maybe it's a little voice at the table. Maybe it's your grandbaby that you get to hold and spend time with that's they're learning how to use their fingers. Maybe this is something that you can talk about in carpool. And okay, you're not going to hold up your left hand while you're driving. But if you're in carpool, there's kids in your seats behind you and around you that can hold up their left hands. Maybe you're talking about this at your kitchen table, but wherever it is, with whomever it is, there are people in your life that need to hear this truth. Jesus died for you. Maybe it's time to have that conversation. Maybe it's time for you to be bold and courageous and not just talk about how Jesus sees you and Jesus loves you, but talk about this truth and say, Jesus died for you, and begin to explain to those entrusted to you what happened, what that means, and why it's important to us today and for all eternity. So here we are today. Jesus sees you, Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you. These are truths that we need to remember, and these are truths that our children need to be taught. So today, friend, I encourage you, I encourage you to spend time considering what God wants to say to you first through this, that Jesus died for you. You can go to the devotion-driven discipleship guide that's found in the Family Disciple Me app. And I encourage you to use that resource as a tool to guide you in your own devotions. Seek Him through that. Spend some time meeting with God about the theme verse and then the other verses that we've talked about in this episode. And then from there, use that devotion-driven discipleship guide to help you engage discipleship conversations with those that God has entrusted to you. You may not use that resource word for word when you have a preschooler. I understand that. But use it as God would allow you in age-appropriate ways with those God has entrusted to you. If you have elementary kids or middle schoolers or high schoolers, you can use that resource to skip the intimidation and get straight to the conversations that really count. And as you do that, even if you don't have your phone or your device with you so that you can pull up the conversation guide, your hand goes with you everywhere you go. Maybe it's to the hospital, maybe it's to Sunday school, maybe it's to talking to the kids in your small group. Maybe it's to spending time with your nieces and nephews, whoever it is, wherever it is, you can remind them of the truths of the five-finger gospel. Let's remember, discipleship starts with a conversation. So, friend, go with God. Get to that conversation. Be encouraged. I'll see you in the next episode as we come to the truth of the pointer finger. I love it so much. We'll see you soon and we'll talk about that.