How Does Our Family Know What Is True?
đź“– “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…“
—John 16:13a (NKJV)
Families hear many different voices every day. Children hear things from friends, teachers, videos, games, and social media. Adults hear opinions from coworkers, relatives, news programs, podcasts, books, pastors, and other Christians. Sometimes those voices agree. Sometimes they say completely different things.
So how does a family know what is true?
Jesus gives us a foundation. He called the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth.“
In John 16, Jesus was speaking directly to His apostles. He told them that there were still things they were not prepared to understand. After His departure, the Holy Spirit would guide these chosen witnesses into the truth necessary for their testimony concerning Christ.
We now receive that Spirit-inspired apostolic testimony through Scripture.
That means a Christian family does not have to build its beliefs upon whoever sounds the most convincing.
We have God’s Word.
This becomes especially important when someone says, “God told me.“
Children may hear adults use those words and assume that whatever follows must therefore be true. Adults can do the same thing. We may hesitate to question someone’s claim because questioning it feels almost like questioning God.
But those are not the same thing.
If someone says God told them something, the claim itself does not make the message God’s Word. Scripture tells believers to test what they hear.
The Bereans did exactly that. After hearing Paul preach, they “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11, NKJV).
Parents can teach children a simple habit that may protect them throughout their lives:
“Let’s see what the Bible says.“
Someone says something about Jesus?
Let’s see what the Bible says.
A teacher makes a spiritual claim?
Let’s see what the Bible says.
A video uses a Bible verse to support an idea?
Let’s read the passage around that verse.
Even when Mom or Dad explains something about God, children should eventually learn that the final question is not, “Did my parents say it?” but, “Is this what God’s Word teaches?“
That does not undermine parental authority. It teaches children where parental authority itself must remain submitted.
Under Christ.
This also allows parents to model humility. Imagine sitting together with Scripture and realizing that something you previously told your children was incorrect.
A parent might be tempted to avoid admitting it.
But what a powerful lesson it can become to say, “I was wrong about this. I studied the passage again, and God’s Word says something different.”
Children then learn something important: truth matters more than protecting our pride.
Families should also learn how to read Scripture carefully.
A Bible verse is not a fortune cookie.
We should not pull one sentence from the Bible and make it mean whatever fits our situation. We ask who was speaking, who was being addressed, what was happening, what comes before and after the verse, and how the passage fits with the rest of Scripture.
Then we apply what God actually said.
Jesus also told His disciples something important about the Holy Spirit: “He will glorify Me” (John 16:14, NKJV).
That provides another helpful question for the family:
Does this teaching faithfully point us toward Christ?
The earliest Christian families needed this kind of discernment too. False teachers traveled from place to place, competing ideas circulated among communities, and believers could not simply assume that everyone speaking about Jesus represented Him accurately.
John warned Christians, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1, NKJV).
Imagine an early Christian household hearing that warning read aloud.
Parents look at their children.
Children listen beside their parents.
Everyone in the room is being taught the same lesson:
Do not believe something merely because it sounds spiritual.
Test it.
Our families need that lesson just as much today.
And there is one more place where testing must occur—inside ourselves.
Sometimes we strongly want something to be true. That desire can affect how we interpret circumstances and even how we read Scripture.
So family discernment also requires humility.
Instead of asking God to confirm whatever we have already decided, we open His Word, willing to be corrected.
Knowing Christ as a family means building a home where truth matters more than personalities, feelings, traditions, trends, or winning arguments.
Parents are not the standard.
Pastors are not the standard.
Popular teachers are not the standard.
Our feelings are not the standard.
God has spoken.
So when voices disagree, our family knows where to return.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, make our home a place that loves truth. Thank You for giving Your people the Holy Spirit and preserving Your truth in Scripture. Teach parents and children alike to test what we hear by Your Word. Keep us from believing something merely because it sounds spiritual or because someone speaks confidently. Give us humility to admit when we are wrong and patience to study Scripture carefully in its context. Guard us from making Your Word say what we want it to say. Through the Spirit of truth, keep our family centered upon Christ and faithful to everything You have revealed. Amen.
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