POSTURE # 3: TRUTH
With compassion and hope, we can help our children listen and learn. But we need to be prepared to give them more than our opinions. We need to orient them to the truth from God’ s Word.
We hope you agree that God’ s truth is the key, and we’ re eager to talk about God’ s amazing plan for gender. We think you’ ll be blown away by how good and wise God is. One of our students at Summit Ministries, a female, had grown so confused about gender that she had begun taking masculinizing hormones. As she learned to embrace God’ s design for her life, she realized that she had been reacting to stereotypes of femininity that she didn’ t identify with. Her transition actions weren’ t making her happy, and it took a lot of courage to tell those who“ encouraged” her that she wasn’ t going to continue transitioning but instead would seek satisfaction in the way God made her. We pray that this young woman continues to find good companions who help her see herself the way God sees her, rather than the way the culture wants her to be.
Compassion, hope, and truth change us! And they can change our kids!
POSTURE # 4: CONFIDENCE
When compassion, hope, and truth are layered together, they build a strong foundation of confidence in our kids. The word confidence is made up of two ideas: together and faith. When we relate to our children’ s hearts and minds, they gradually learn to protect and nurture their own hearts and minds. This is a game-changer.
Confident people gather strength from trusted individuals to believe what is true and live in a new way. This is true for children, too. Being confident in their gender, children can develop a larger sense of how to be confident in God and His plan for their lives. Confidence is crucial!
Confidence in the right things is the foundation of many other essential building blocks, such as loving others, fixing your mistakes, not quitting when things get tough, facing fear, doing hard things, and connecting with those around you.
When we ask others what helps parents raise gender-confident kids, the conversation always comes back to our relationship with God. This includes knowing who we are in Christ, knowing He loves us no matter what, believing who God tells us we are, and seeking a deeper relationship with God.
Confidence in God is related to gender confidence as well as confidence in every other area of life. It’ s a process. Don’ t lose hope if you’ re not there yet! We’ ll walk with you and share what we’ ve learned that directly applies to raising children who love and honor God and one another.
NOW IT’ S TIME TO STAND We need God’ s truth so we can be clear about what God says, discern the lies culture tells, treat others with dignity even when we think they are wrong, and be released from guilt and shame.
Now is the time to stand. The enemy is hard at work confusing children so that they lose trust in God. Learning to stand for truth the Jesus way takes time and practice. But we have the power of God’ s presence, through prayer and encouragement. We are never at a loss for something to do! The God we serve is the Creator of the world and the Savior of our souls. He is still in the miracle business.
32 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW
Raising Gender-Confident Kids by Dr. Jeff Myers and Dr. Kathy Koch is a practical, biblically grounded guide to help parents navigate today’ s gender confusion. With truth, compassion, and clarity, it equips families to anchor children in their God-given identity. Ideal for parents and mentors who want to raise kids confident in who they are— rooted in Scripture, not shifting culture. Get your free copy at genderconfidentkids. com.