Kids start out so innocent. Before you know it, though, they’re saying inappropriate things in front of your friends. And you’re left asking, “Where in the world did THAT come from?!”

The answer is often simple. Kids today live in a R world. My grandparents and parents lived in tough economic times, but had G values. My generation stealthily accepted a PG culture, which morphed into PG-13 for my kids. But wow that needle has swung, rocketed actually, to an R world.

Each generation complained about it, yet got unknowingly scalded like a frog in a slowly boiling pot. The progression is normally so slow that you don’t see it or feel it. Nevertheless, it happens. And now the question for you and me is this: How do we raise PG kids in an R world?

In the next three blogs, we’ll explore three keys to raise PG kids in an R world:  1) Intriguing Plots, 2) Memorable Characters, and 3) Clear Boundaries. We’ll start today with Intriguing Plots.

4 ways to create Intriguing Plots

  1. Answer your dramatic question

Intriguing plots center around one moment that raises a dramatic question, which is answered throughout the story. Every dialog, every scene exists to answer that one question. How about you  . . . What’s your family’s story? Your one dramatic question?

For some families, it’s all about pursuing rags-to-riches. Others live a story of tragedy, a hero’s journey, a comedy, or a rebirth. Every family, including yours, has a story. But few families intentionally ask and answer a God-honoring dramatic question. If you want to raise PG kids that stand out and stand above an R world, you need to lead them to know the one thing that guides every dialog, every victory, and every disappointment.

My dramatic question is: Will my choices today result in feeling God’s warm embrace and hearing Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? That’s mine … What’s yours?

  1. Know your villains

There’s always a struggle between good and evil, between heroes and villains. And great families, like great movie plots, clearly know their villains. They don’t create imaginary villains or villainize people to make a point. But they understand, identify, and protect against a spiritual enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

Sadly, many Christians live with the consequences of not understanding their spiritual enemy. Some are unaware, cocky, or indifferent. Others live with the opposite extreme – fear. Great families, however, protect against their enemy by submitting to God (James 4:7) and putting on the full armor of God (Eph 6:11). For the more you know your spiritual villains, the more you can help your family abide in the One who came to destroy their schemes (I John 3:8).

  1. Celebrate the hero

All kids deserve heroic parents. My dad will always be my hero because he set a godly standard, lived it, and never backed off it. No matter what villainous influences swirled around our family, he clung to G-rated values that made God smile. But more importantly, my dad showed me how to celebrate something greater, someone greater, the ultimate hero – Jesus Christ.

If you want PG kids in an R world, you can’t be the hero. Heroic? Sure. But don’t put yourself on a pedestal because when you fail (we all do), you create a void in your kids’ hearts that your spiritual enemy will quickly fill. Great kids are grounded kids – rooted in a deeply personal Hero who never fails and always fills. He fills us with His Spirit to raise kids who celebrate Him too, no matter what the world around them is rated.

  1. Share surprising twists & happy endings

Intriguing plots, like intriguing parents, are never boring. They’re predictable, yet full of surprises. We want a predictable life, like a Hawaiian weather forecast, but life comes with twists and turns that may frustrate us, but they can inspire our kids to overcome their own challenges. Instead of praying for easy days, pray for edgy days – days that take you to the edge of your limits and show kids the surprising security of living in the palm of God’s hand.

Raising PG kids also has another reality – that although our days aren’t always happy, we know we’ll have a happy ending in heaven. Our days don’t determine our destiny. Our eternity in Jesus is secure if we ensure that He is our security. Then, no matter how choppy our seas become, there’s healing in our hurricane. Steadfastness in our storminess. And happiness in our holiness.

Next week, we’ll unpack how Memorable Characters with memorable character can help you raise PG kids in an R world (and why PG is the goal, not G).

Questions: What’s your family’s story – your dramatic question? How well are you preparing your kids to stand tall in an R world, rather than boiled in pot like a frog?