“Perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).
We are not the first to raise children under dark skies. Every age has had its feasts, its false gods, its groves and goblins. The world’s calendar has long been dotted with black ink. Don’t get me wrong, not everything is darkness all the time in this world. Yet when darkness is openly celebrated, one question matters for the church: how will we answer?
If you are tempted to take part in this pagan night, what would happen if you simply chose not to?
No costumes. No jack-o-lanterns. No candy bowls. Just quiet. Light in the windows. The Psalter playing in the house. An open Bible. Family worship. Good conversation and fellowship. In other words, a regular Thursday evening.
We Do Not Need the World’s Calendar to Be Whole
Halloween is not holy, but it is spiritual. Its roots lie in fear, death, devils, mockery, inversion, and sin. It teaches. It shapes. It forms the imagination of our children before they can even speak in full sentences.
What if we taught them something else?
Instead of makeup and candy, hand them stories. Let the night become an evening of standing against the world (contra mundum) with the true stories of Christ written on their hearts.
Tell them first of Joseph: alone in Egypt, far from home, pressed by temptation, choosing truth over pleasure. He would rather sit in a dungeon with God’s smile than in a palace with God’s frown (Genesis 39).
Tell them of Daniel: commanded to bow to a king’s image, threatened with death if he prayed, yet he still opened his window toward Jerusalem and knelt three times a day as before, though the lions waited (Daniel 6).
Tell them of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: before the furnace they said to the king, “We will not bow” (Daniel 3). Into the flames they went, and there the Son of God stood with them. The hottest place became their safest refuge because Christ was there.
And go beyond the Old Testament. Tell of John the Baptist, of Peter, of Paul and Silas singing in prison. Read from Eusebius of the early martyrs: men and women dragged into arenas, lions tearing, crowds jeering, emperors raging. Yet psalms rose from their lips. They refused a pinch of incense to Caesar, stood against the world, and gained heaven.
Let your children hear these stories on a night that celebrates sin. Let them see that happiness does not come from doorbells and sweets but from courage born of faith and from walking with Christ. Let them grow up remembering that in your home this night was about strength, light, and the stories of those who stood firm because Christ stood with them.
You Don’t Have to Keep Explaining Yourself
Some will say you are overreacting. Smile kindly. You owe no defense. Others will say, “Use it as a chance to witness.” Perhaps you can. You may be mocked for it or have your home egged. That, too, is a soft persecution, a worthy testimony to your children.
But true separation begins in the heart, not as a strategy but as a compulsion of love. When love for Christ matures, some things no longer fit. The holiest decisions are made quietly, not to win arguments but to walk nearer to Him.
You may feel alone, but you are not. “Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13). Every choice to say no to darkness plants a seed of light in your children. You are sowing memories into your home and marriage, doing it quietly, without contention. Our Lord sees.
It may be that your small, unnoticed choice becomes the story your children tell their children when they face their own temptations.
For the Heart
The answer is not fear. The answer is love, “Perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). But it must be a discerning love:
A love that knows what is holy.
A love that has eyes to see.
A love that will not flirt with idols any more than a bride can give herself to two grooms.
Christ is not ashamed to call us His. Shall we blush to call Him ours?
Let the world have its night. We are children of the day. We belong to the morning.
P.S.
Here is a possible reading plan for family worship the week of Halloween:
Theme Verse: “Perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18)
Reading 1 – Joseph in Egypt
Text: Genesis 39, especially verses 7–10.
Story: Far from home, Joseph refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. He chose prison with God’s smile over pleasure with God’s frown.
Talk Together: What does it mean to choose what is right even if it costs us?
Reading 2 – The Fiery Furnace
Text: Daniel 3:16–18, 24–25
Story: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, “We will not bow.” They were thrown into the flames, but Christ Himself stood with them. The hottest place became their safest refuge.
Talk Together: How does this story show us that Jesus is with His people in their hardest moments?
Reading 3 – Daniel in the Lions’ Den
Text: Daniel 6, especially verse 10–13
Story: Daniel kept his window open and prayed three times a day, though he knew persecution was waiting. Better to face beasts with God than live in safety without Him.
Talk Together: Why do you think Daniel kept praying when he knew it could cost his life?
Reading 4 – Peter and John Before the Council
Text: Acts 4, especially verse 18–20
Story: Ordered not to preach, they answered, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Talk Together: What might it look like for us to be this bold in our own lives?
Reading 5 – Paul and Silas in Prison
Text: Acts 16, especially verses 25–26
Story: Their feet were in stocks, their backs bleeding, yet they sang hymns at midnight. God shook the prison and opened the doors.
Talk Together: Why would singing be the first thing they did in such pain?
Reading 6 – Early Christian Martyrs
Text: Hebrews 11:35–38
Story: The early church faced arenas, lions, and jeering crowds. Yet their lips sang psalms, and they would not offer even a pinch of incense to Caesar. They stood against the world for the Savior that bought then with His own precious blood.
Talk Together: What does this teach us about courage and true worship?