Teaching Your Child Ways of God

The Responsibility of Parents | Teaching Your Child Ways of God

There is more to teaching our children the ways of God than just having them memorize scriptures. While that is an important part of learning, there are different aspects and depths that should also be taught and shown.

We as parents want our children to succeed in every way possible. I know that I began early teaching my child intellectual things for secular sake. I want him to know the alphabet, his numbers, colors, and shapes.

But more than that, I want him to KNOW what a miracle he is. I want him to understand that he did not just happen. Our son was a promise spoken to my husband and me, and God came through on that promise.

I want my child to KNOW God

Teaching our children how to pray, how to seek God, how to walk in the obedience of God’s word is something that we should focus our time and energy on. Yes, I believe as the scripture says that we should hide God’s word in our hearts. But we also need to be an example for our children to follow, and not just say the words.

God commanded, or instructed, Moses to not only tell the people what He said but to train the people how to put into effect to live in obedience to His word.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (CSB) says “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

In the Morning Time, in the Travel Time, in your Family Time, and at Bedtime teach your child the ways of God. Physically show them how to live according to His word. I love seeing children look to their parents as they show small acts of worship throughout the day. You may not even realize that you are doing it, but it is showing them what true worship from the heart is.

They Learn by Watching

One day while I was praying, my son who had been playing in another area came up to me. I was at the church and was kneeling at a pew and I had begun shedding tears of thankfulness. So I asked him to hand me a tissue. He handed me one and then grabbed one for himself.

The next thing I knew, he had knelt down beside me at the pew and covered his face with his tiny hands. With that tissue in hand, he raised up and wiped his eyes. He would say “Oh Jesus” and just pray his little heart out. Suddenly he stood up, once again wiped his eyes (although there were no tears), and “blew” his nose.

I laughed until I hurt. That little guy blessed me at that moment mimicking what he had seen. I don’t want to be the parent that says ‘Do as I say, not as I do’. I want to be the parent that says ‘Here son, let’s do this together. Let me show you how to worship and pray’.

This graph in The Study Bible for Women CSB goes into more depth of what these scriptures refer to.

Teaching as You Go

Encouraging words to give for the Morning Time could be:

“You’re going to have a great day in the Lord.”

“God made this day just for you! I hope that you enjoy it.”

“Be kind to everyone you see and let the light of Jesus shine through you today.”

Informal conversation as you make your way through the day could be:

Small talk of the day’s events and how God can help your child through it.

Speaking casually about Jesus throughout the day. Let your children hear the name of the Lord. Let them know how much you love Him.

Listening to Christian music and letting your child know how keeping your mind on Jesus (even through music) helps your day.

Discussion of purpose with family all together could include:

Reading the Bible together as a family.

Talking with children about what they are going through in life. Try to apply the truths from the Bible for this situation.

This is the time for deep discussion of personal convictions.

Intimate sharing with each child at the end of the day could include:

Saying bedtime prayers.

Asking your child how their day was.

Taking personal time to really connect with your children and taking the time to pray over them for the night.

We are responsible for the spiritual training of our children. This involves both verbal instruction and modeling obedience. We are to Repeat the words to our children, Talk about them all of the time in our daily routine, Commit them to memory, and keep them in our hearts to make it a standard for daily living.

Let’s bind together in unity and make it a priority to instill God’s truth in the lives of our precious children! It is our responsibility as a loving parent to guide our little ones into the arms of God. How I love teaching my child about Jesus! There’s no greater joy or reward.

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