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If you want to know the air temperature, read a thermometer. Wondering if you have enough gas for your commute? Check the fuel gauge. Has cutting out carbohydrates worked? The scale won't lie. Measurements and standards provide us with an objective method to examine something and determine how much change has occurred. Even in church work. This article focuses on a reliable tool to help children's ministries see their effectiveness.

It's a simple tool; just look at the children. So that's what we'll do—look at some real kids. The challenge, though, is to determine exactly what to look for. Well-behaved? Nope—that's not the answer because it can be temporary. Attendance? No, it's too dependent on parents—kids can't drive themselves to church. Ability to recite scripture? Nice start, but short term memory doesn't always last. Changed lives? Now you're talking!

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" In ministry, we want to look at our kids and see changes that should accompany new creations. What does this change look like? That's one big question. And there are five answers.

The Great Commandment, Matthew 23:37, guides us toward what should be seen: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." In other words, full devotion to Him—a concept that is simple to say, but not as simple to see. This very real challenge to identify full devotion in a person's life prompted the creation of indicators called the 5G's—Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Good Stewardship.

In this article and in two future articles, we'll examine what each of the 5G's looks like in real children because kid-sized full devotion is what really counts in children's ministry. Of course other indicators might exist—the important point here is the value of having something that you deliberately watch. To that end, if you look at the children in your ministry and see the 5G's in action, then you have a reliable gauge to determine your ministry's effectiveness.

So we'll look at the stories of children that highlight one G at a time, beginning with the G that serves as a prerequisite for the others. Additional stories and the other four Gs will follow in articles to come.

Romans 3:23-24 says "Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." So ministry effectiveness becomes apparent when you see kids accept God's gift by giving their lives to Christ.

But don't stop looking, because another side of grace exists. God expects Christ followers to become His priests and to tell others about Him (1 Peter 2:9). So this G is seen in kids who accept grace and then go on to share it with friends and family—quite a beautiful picture.

One evening at bedtime, five-year-old Erica asked her dad, "What does heaven look like?" They shared imaginative ideas for a while, until she asked, "How do you get there?" Dad briefly explained the salvation plan using kid-friendly words, including references to aspects of God and salvation that she had already learned at church.

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