What happens when people turn away from God?
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Kids Talk About God
By Carey Kinsolving
Joshua, age 6, says, “If you turn away from God, it’s like unplugging your night-light. Then it just gets dark.”
Romans 1:24-32 gives us one of the Bible’s clearest pictures of what happens when people reject God. Paul describes how those who push God away end up in confusion, sin and brokenness. Instead of living in God’s light, they stumble in the darkness.
Paul writes, “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:24-25).
That’s a heavy sentence, but it shows us that when people trade God’s truth for lies, life gets messy. When people turn away from God, they chase after what looks good, but leads to harm.
Paul says three times that “God gave them up” or “God gave them over” (verses 24, 26 and 28). That doesn’t mean God stopped loving them. It means He allowed them to experience the consequences of their choices.
God doesn’t force anyone to believe in Him. If we keep ignoring Him, He lets us go our own way, even though it breaks His heart.
“When you don’t listen to God, you start listening to the wrong voices,” says Hannah, 10. “And those voices don’t really care about you.”
Exactly. God’s truth leads to life, but lies lead to destruction.
Paul describes people becoming slaves to sinful desires, dishonoring their bodies, and even celebrating what is wrong. This is what happens when people replace God with idols. Those idols could be statues, money, fame, or even themselves.
Author Norman Geisler often said that when people reject God’s truth, they don’t stop worshiping. They just worship the wrong things.
Humans are made to worship. If we turn away from the Creator, we will end up worshiping creation in some form. That’s why Paul says they “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”
“It’s like cheering for the soccer ball instead of the player who kicked the goal,” says Lucas, 9.
To worship creation instead of the Creator is to miss the whole point. It’s a kind of upside-down living that brings pain and emptiness.
Paul lists many sins that flow from rejecting God: envy, murder, strife, deceit, gossip, arrogance, disobedience to parents, and more. This isn’t just a list of bad behaviors. It’s a picture of life cut off from God’s love and truth.
“It’s like trying to run a car without gas,” says Sophia, 8. “It doesn’t go anywhere.”
When people turn away from God, their lives eventually break down. But here’s the good news: even though people may turn away from God, God never turns away from them.
His arms are always open to welcome us back through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 reminds us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, what happens when people turn away from God? They walk into darkness, confusion and brokenness. But when they turn back to Him, they find light, forgiveness and new life.
Think About This: Turning away from God leads to darkness, but turning to Him brings light, truth and life.
Memorize This Truth: “Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:25).
Ask This Question: What is one way you can worship the Creator instead of created things this week?
