From the desk of Elle Angel
I hate to say this, but it is happening earlier than we think.
Our children are learning who they are from the world around them, and that world looks very different than it used to. It is no longer just a close circle of family and community shaping their understanding of themselves. It is television shows, games, other children, teachers at school, YouTube, and ads that appear in between everything else. All of these voices are speaking, and they are speaking often.
Before we fully recognize it, those voices have already begun forming beliefs in our children. Messages about worth, appearance, and belonging are repeated in ways that feel normal, and children receive them as truth when nothing else has been clearly spoken to them.
Many families are carrying full days and full schedules, and in the middle of that, identity formation is still taking place. Children are not waiting until they are older to begin asking who they are. They are answering that question now, through what they hear and what is repeated around them. When truth is not intentionally planted and reinforced, something else takes its place.
Shaping a child does not begin later. It begins when they are small, when their hearts are open and forming and ready to receive. What is planted in those early years does not simply pass through. It takes root and becomes part of how they see themselves and the world around them.
We cannot control every voice our children will encounter, but we can be intentional about what is established first. We can speak truth over them, remind them who God says they are, and create an environment where that truth is heard consistently. When truth is present and repeated, it becomes familiar, and it forms a foundation that other voices are measured against.
I do not want to look back and realize that the world discipled my children before I did. I want them to grow up hearing truth early, understanding their identity in Christ, and carrying that with them into every environment they step into.
This leads to a clear decision. I choose to be intentional. I choose to speak truth early and repeat it often. I choose to plant what I want to see grow in their lives.
I am choosing to guard their hearts.
If this has been on your heart as well, you are not alone.
