This Grandparents Day, the answer may surprise you.
Picture this.
It’s 20 years from now.
Your grandchild is sitting around a table talking about you.
What do you hope they say?
“Grandma made the greatest chocolate chip cookies known to mankind.”
“Grandpa could fix anything with duct tape, even things that probably should not have been fixed with duct tape.”
Or maybe:
“My grandparents always made me feel like I mattered.”
“They listened to me.”
“They prayed for me.”
“They taught me that when life gets difficult, I can turn to Jesus.”
That last part is what Grandparents Day is really about.
Because the greatest inheritance you leave your grandchildren probably won’t be sitting in a bank account.
It will be sitting inside them.
Your words.
Your laughter.
Your stories.
Your faith.
Your example.
And perhaps a few family recipes nobody can reproduce because Grandma insists the secret ingredient is “a little bit of this.”
Being a Great Grandparent Has Very Little to Do With Being Perfect
Here is some good news:
Your grandchildren do not need a perfect grandparent.
Which is fortunate, because there aren’t many available.
They need you.
The real you.
The one who has made mistakes, learned lessons, survived difficult seasons, laughed at things you probably shouldn’t have laughed at, and discovered along the way that God’s grace is considerably larger than our mistakes.
Scripture gives us a wonderful example in Timothy’s grandmother, Lois.
In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul talks about the sincere faith that first lived in Timothy’s grandmother Lois, then in his mother Eunice, and eventually became part of Timothy’s own life.
Think about that for a moment.
Lois probably never woke up one morning and announced:
“Today I shall influence Christianity for the next 2,000 years.”
She simply lived her faith.
She planted seeds.
And some of those seeds grew far beyond anything she could have imagined.
That raises an interesting question:
What seeds are you planting right now?
Bible Verses About Grandparents
Scripture has more to say about grandparents than most people expect.
Not rules. Not requirements.
Mostly reminders that what you pass down outlives you.
Here are four Bible verses about grandparents worth sitting with this Grandparents Day.
“having been reminded of the sincere faith that is in you, which lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, in you also.” — 2 Timothy 1:5
One grandmother’s faith. Three generations. Two thousand years of ripples.
“Children’s children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.” — Proverbs 17:6
Notice it runs both directions. They are your crown. You are their glory.
“But the LORD’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children” — Psalm 103:17
God’s kindness does not stop at your generation. It keeps going.
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.” — Proverbs 13:22
An inheritance, yes. But an inheritance is not always money.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, except Psalm 103:17, which is from the New Heart English Bible. Both are public domain.
7 Little Things That Can Make You a GREAT Grandparent
You don’t need more money.
You don’t need to become an expert on TikTok.
And you definitely do not need to understand why your grandchild sends you a message containing nothing but three emojis.
Start here:
- Listen before you advise. Sometimes your grandchild doesn’t need Grandpa’s 47-step solution. They need someone who will say, “Tell me more.” Being heard creates a memory.
- Tell them your stories—including the embarrassing ones. Tell them about your first job, first love, biggest mistake, funniest disaster, and the time you thought your parents knew absolutely nothing. Eventually, most of us discover our parents had learned a few things after all.
- Say “I love you” while you still have the opportunity. Don’t assume they know. Tell them. Then tell them again. There is very little danger of a grandchild growing up saying, “My grandparents loved me entirely too much.”
- Pray for them—and let them know you do. Pray for their health, friendships, decisions, fears, dreams, and faith. One day they may remember that Grandma or Grandpa was quietly talking to Jesus about them long before they understood why that mattered.
- Create traditions. Sunday breakfast. Birthday phone calls. A special Christmas ornament. Fishing trips. Baking together. A ridiculous family saying nobody outside the family understands. Traditions tell a child: You belong here.
- Give them your attention, not just presents. Presents are wonderful. Presence is better. Ten years from now, they may forget which toy you bought. They are much less likely to forget sitting beside you while you taught them something, listened to them, or laughed together.
- Show them what faith looks like when life isn’t easy. Anybody can talk about faith when everything is wonderful. Your grandchildren are watching how you handle disappointment, forgiveness, illness, uncertainty, change, and loss. Sometimes the most powerful sermon a grandparent ever gives contains no sermon at all.
Here’s Something Your Grandchildren May Never Tell You
You may matter to them more than you realize.
Grandparents occupy a unique place in a family.
Parents often have to say:
“Clean your room.”
“Finish your homework.”
“No, you cannot eat ice cream for breakfast.”
Grandparents occasionally have the privilege of asking:
“Chocolate or vanilla?”
But underneath the jokes is something powerful.
A grandparent can become a safe place.
Someone who has lived long enough to know that today’s catastrophe may not look quite as catastrophic tomorrow.
Someone who can say:
“I’ve been through difficult days too.”
“And Jesus was still there.”
That kind of wisdom cannot be downloaded from an app.
It has to be lived.
What If Your Family Isn’t Picture-Perfect?
Maybe Grandparents Day is complicated for you.
Perhaps your grandchildren live far away.
Perhaps there has been divorce, disagreement, disappointment, or distance.
Perhaps you wish the relationship were different.
Scripture never promises us perfect families.
It continually points us toward patience, forgiveness, compassion, and grace.
Proverbs 17:6 tells us:
“Children’s children are the crown of old men.”
Sometimes loving your grandchildren means being close.
Sometimes it means giving them room.
Sometimes it means forgiving.
Sometimes it means waiting.
And sometimes it means continuing to pray when you cannot fix the situation yourself.
A Simple Grandparents Day Prayer for Your Grandchildren
Jesus,
Thank You for the children and grandchildren You have placed in my life.
Help me love them without trying to control them.
Give me wisdom when they need guidance, patience when we disagree, and the good sense to keep my mouth closed occasionally when they simply need me to listen.
Protect them when I cannot.
Guide them when I am not beside them.
Let my life show them kindness, forgiveness, courage, laughter, and faith.
And long after I am gone, let them remember that they were deeply loved.
Amen.
Your Most Important Years May Not Be Behind You
Growing older can whisper something dangerous:
“Your important years are over.”
Don’t believe it.
Psalm 92 speaks about continuing to bear fruit in old age.
There is no retirement age for encouragement.
No expiration date on wisdom.
No age limit on prayer.
And no moment when your ability to make another human being feel loved suddenly becomes unimportant.
In fact, some of the most meaningful words you will ever speak may still be waiting to be spoken.
Imagine your grandchild years from now remembering something you said this week.
A sentence.
A prayer.
A hug.
A story.
Maybe even one terrible Grandpa joke they promised they would never repeat—and then eventually told their own children.
So This Grandparents Day, Ask Yourself One Question
What do I want my grandchildren to remember because they knew me?
Not what you owned.
Not what title you held.
Not whether your house was spotless.
What do you want them to feel when they remember you?
Loved?
Safe?
Encouraged?
Accepted?
Closer to Jesus?
You don’t build that kind of legacy in one dramatic moment.
You build it in hundreds of small ones.
One phone call.
One story.
One hug.
One apology.
One “I’m proud of you.”
One prayer.
One moment when you chose love instead of needing to be right.
And perhaps that is the beautiful secret of Grandparents Day:
You may already be creating your legacy without realizing it.
So here’s a thought.
Before today ends, call a grandchild.
Send a text.
Share an old photograph.
Tell a story.
Say “I love you.”
And if something about family, forgiveness, aging, faith, or the legacy you want to leave has been weighing on your heart…
NowAskJesus.
Ask the question you have been carrying.
Then discover what Scripture may have to say about it.
Your story isn’t finished yet. And neither is the legacy you’re leaving.
If Grandparents Day has you thinking about family, faith, forgiveness, or the legacy you hope to leave, begin a conversation with NowAskJesus and explore what Scripture might say about what is on your heart.
Until next time, remember—you’re never alone. Jesus is always listening, and we’re always here. Keep the faith, keep asking, and keep sharing His love.
—your friends at NowAskJesus