10 Benefits and Challenges of Accepting Christ at a Young Age
As a teenager and young adult, I thought, because I had accepted Christ at age 5 years old, that I really didn’t have a testimony to share with others, you know, the really powerful ones where individuals tell how they were terribly lost, steeped deep in sin and Jesus saved them.
My story of knowing Jesus for as long as I could remember seemed boring in comparison to college friends who had been strung out on drugs, or grew up in abusive homes. I mistakenly viewed growing up as a pastor’s kid and knowing Jesus since a toddler, as having little to offer those who were dealing with real issues and struggles in life.
But as I grew in my faith and understanding, my heart began to be so deeply appreciative and grateful to God for the opportunity and blessing of knowing Him pretty much my entire life.
Not that our relationship hasn’t had some bumps and ups-and-downs through the years, but looking back, I’m glad He’s been holding my hand during it all. As Isaiah 41:13 assures us, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
Even though it is the absolute greatest blessing in this life to accept Christ at a young age, it comes with both benefits and challenges. The following are ten of both that young believers face.
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1. Facing the youthful challenge of lacking knowledge.
1. Facing the youthful challenge of lacking knowledge.
Children and youth who accept Christ, like all baby Christians, start out with limited biblical knowledge when it comes to facing situations in life.
Lack of knowledge is dangerous, as the Prophet Hosea wrote, and, tragically, can lead to destruction for even those who believe in God. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
As a young person, there is a lot to learn, and it’s not always easy to recognize at first, the things that aren’t biblical or pleasing to God, or knowing where they originate and who is behind them. In Mark 13:5, “Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you.’”
2. Facing the youthful challenge of inexperience.
Becoming a Christian at a young age comes with inexperience of knowing what the world is like and what is considered Christ-like behavior. It’s a growing process, so as baby Christians, they can sometimes be easily misled by older kids and even adults.
Hebrews 5:13 describes how, “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.”
Because at a young age, kids are just beginning to learn how to yield to God, they lack experience in knowing when the Holy Spirit is speaking to them, leading them away from sinful practices and beliefs.
As youths, they are in training, learning as they grow, what Isaiah 30:21 describes. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
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3. Facing the youthful challenge of opposition to their faith.
3. Facing the youthful challenge of opposition to their faith.
The enemy works through others to challenge the faith of those who accepted Christ in their youth, telling them they’ve been over-sheltered, indoctrinated, and more, tempting and egging young believers on to reject and resent their upbringings, and rebel against and walk away from their faith.
It happens every day in public schools and universities, leaving many who accepted Christ as a child, confused, divided, and feeling like maybe they were lied to. These all-out assaults against their faith can be difficult for them to answer and confront, leading some to question and walk away from the faith of their childhood.
But Jesus is very specific about what a sin it is for individuals to cause young believers to stumble. He explains the severity of it in Matthew 18:6, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in Me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
In Matthew 18:7, Jesus’ warning is strong. “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!”
4. Facing the youthful challenge of avoiding sin’s entrapment.
As young Christians, seeing how one thing can lead to another isn’t something they might understand at an early age. Psalm 141:9 urges, “Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me.”
It takes time to learn how the enemy of our souls operates and how to recognize when he’s trying to lead us astray and capture us in sin.
With childlike trust, thinking, and outlook in life, children may not see the enemy’s traps and enticements. As 1 Peter 5:8 warns, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
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5. Facing the youthful challenge of childish choices that affect a lifetime.
5. Facing the youthful challenge of childish choices that affect a lifetime.
Kids often don’t understand how participating in sin can affect a lifetime; naively believing what they do or see is only for a moment and then goes away. The devil wants them to believe that sin has no lasting effects, misleading them into thinking it won’t affect them in the long run.
But sinful actions and participations can stick with them for a lifetime. As Psalm 119:37 urges to “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”
How many kids have been exposed to activities and images that influence and cause them to struggle for years to come? Youths who haven’t yet learned what Psalm 101:3 explains, “I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”
Jesus offers the most serious warning, as Matthew 18:9 describes, “And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
6. Enjoying the youthful benefits of growing up knowing God.
Accepting Christ as a child gives individuals the opportunity to have many years to grow and deepen their faith. As well, some kids who accept Christ are the only ones in their family who believe, often leading them to bring their entire family to follow Christ, too.
Proverbs 22:6 describes the lifetime benefit of being saved early in life. “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
As well, if kids grow up in Christian homes, they have the added benefit of being raised, according to Deuteronomy 11:18-21: “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”
As well, growing up in a church community gives children the benefit of having other Christians to encourage and nurture their faith, fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 18:5, “And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes Me.”
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7. Enjoying the youthful benefits of avoiding temptation and sin’s entrapments.
7. Enjoying the youthful benefits of avoiding temptation and sin’s entrapments.
Becoming a Christian at an early age offers the wonderful privilege of learning early on in life the difference between right and wrong.
It helps to recognize how the enemy of their souls seeks to entrap and devour them and how God provides a way of escape from his temptations.
As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
Many lost, hurting, and broken people in the world would love to have grown up spared from sin’s temptations, traps, and destructive results. As Proverbs 5:22 explains, “The evil deeds of the wicked ensure them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.”
Meeting and knowing Christ from an early age is a priceless gift that helps individuals escape the devil’s snares.
8. Enjoying the youthful benefit of the Holy Spirit leading them.
Even at an early age, children begin learning how to discern the Holy Spirit leading them. Just like adults who accept Christ as their Savior receive the Holy Spirit, so do children.
As Jesus promised, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
Sometimes people dismiss the belief that children can be led by the Holy Spirit, but the Bible describes children who were led and essential in helping to fulfill God’s will in surrounding lives and nations.
Remarkable biblical youths such as Samuel, who heard God’s voice at an early age, and, Josiah, who as a child king, led his nation to turn back to God, and David, who trusted God when facing a giant, served God in godly and remarkable ways.
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9. Enjoying the youthful benefit of prayer.
9. Enjoying the youthful benefit of prayer.
Having others pray for them and learning how to pray at a young age, equips kids to know where to turn and who to ask for help for the rest of their lives.
Whereas many people grow up not knowing how to talk to God, those who receive Christ at an early age grow up with the blessing of prayer, as Philippians 4:6 teaches them growing up, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
God welcomes the prayers of children, calling them to come to Him with their needs. “But Jesus called the children to Him and said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,’” (Luke 18:16).
Only eternity will reveal how God has moved through the prayers of children and youth down through history to fulfill His will through them and bring glory to His name.
10. Enjoying the youthful benefit of God’s word.
Being taught godly principles at an early age helps kids to follow God’s pathway for their entire lives, helping them to avoid pitfalls that try to trip them up. Drinking in God’s word strengthens and deepens their faith.
As the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your Salvation.”
In being taught and memorizing God’s word, youths are equipped to walk with God, based on His truth rather than on their own understanding, emotions, and the enemy’s enticements. As Psalm 119:105 describes, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
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Originally published August 18, 2025.
