Why Christian kids have what it takes to succeed
02-10-2025
Opinion
Elina Placentino
Students take final high-school exam 'maturita' at the Massimo d'Azeglio high school in Turin, Italy. Photo EPA, Alessandro di Marco
Opinion
Imagine if there were such a thing as success pills. A regular dose would guarantee the success of your child in life, no matter what. What would happen? Obviously, this pill would be the new hot item on the market. Producing companies would soon run out of their stocks as eager parents claim their share.
You might even be tempted to stock up such a booster in your kitchen cupboard for your child’s exam days or for especially challenging school subjects. But the reality of it is that Christian children don’t actually need a miraculous aide. Because they already have it.
Being a Christian provides children with unique advantages in life. And, as I have discovered, these advantages have a positive effect even on schooling!
Here are a few:
Security — I will never forget the time I sensed God’s peace in an important maths exam. It was the exam I had worried about the most, but thankfully that proved to be unnecessary. The safety that God's peace gave me enabled me to think clearly and succeed so well as to surprise even my maths teacher! Having peace with God gives children a secure foundation to build their lives on. A basic sense of security will thus enable them to focus on learning.
Praying will help to release the pressure children feel in their studies.
Prayer — My husband can testify to God’s amazing intervention in his university exams. In answer to desperate prayer, God arranged for situations and questions that led him to unexpected academic success. In a similar way, Christian children will learn to pray about their challenges at school. Praying will help to release the pressure they feel in their studies and God's answers to their prayers will enable them to succeed beyond their own capacities!
Community — As a home-schooling mother, I am relieved to know people who can help our daughters in subjects that are not my personal strength. And we are not an exception. Christian children, in general, benefit from having a community of believers to bear their burdens as well. There may be a mathematical genius at church who is willing to tutor them and help them overcome their challenges in the field. Or there might be a native French-speaker who is motivated to give them a little coaching in areas of need. In our case, we are grateful for a church youth worker who has studied chemistry at university and is willing to share her knowledge. Whatever the specific situation may be, Christian children have the privilege of belonging to a community of people created to love and serve each other.
Crafts
Furthermore, when children know their Creator, they discover that they have a unique purpose in life. God has designed each one of them intentionally the way that they are. And His purposes are good.
As they walk with God, children will discover the purpose God has for their talents.
A Biblical example of this is the story of Bezalel (Exodus 31). He is reported to have been filled “with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 31:3-5). In other words, God had spiritually gifted him for artistic and practical work. As they walk with God, children will discover the purpose God has for their talents.
God’s gifts can also be intellectual, as was the case with Solomon, Daniel and the disciples. Solomon was renowned for having “wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (1. Kings 4:29). His wisdom was artistic, spiritual, literary, botanical and also reached animal life (1. Kings 4:32-33)!
Yet even without formal training, the Holy Spirit can give people wisdom beyond their own capacities. This seems to have taken place with Peter and John. In Acts 4:13 we read: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
Field of learning
So, we can encourage children to pray that God would give them wisdom. And He will answer them, since He has already promised to do so “generously…without finding fault” (James 1:5). In fact, asking God for help is the only time that using “outside” help in exams is not cheating. (Remember what happened in my maths exam?).
In addition to God’s Spirit providing children with help in their studies, the Holy Spirit is there to guide them into all truth. This means that as they grow in their knowledge of God's Word, they will be able to develop a healthy, truth-based worldview. Knowing their Creator and Sustainer will then enable them to understand the world correctly. Like pieces in a puzzle, they will understand how to place facts in the correct framework, which is a natural key to success in any field of learning.
As I have discovered, being a Christian is without doubt the best basis for children to flourish and succeed. God’s Spirit and Word provide intellectual understanding, moral guidance and emotional stability through which they are set firmly on the road to success!
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