22 Jan Train Up a Child

Walking (or at many times it has felt like wading) through the challenges of this last year has granted me fresh perspective on the importance of training my children in the truth of God’s Word. Scripture reminds us that “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). More than ensuring they are brilliant academics or excellent athletes, I long for my children to emerge from our home as adults who love Jesus and are firmly anchored in His Word.

Deuteronomy 6 is one of the most descriptive passages in Scripture about this sacred task we have as parents:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (verses 4-9).

Here is the humbling part – before we can teach our kids in God’s truth, we have to know it ourselves. Scripture says these words must be “on our hearts.” The Message version puts it this way: “Get them (God’s words) inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are…” 

How do we get God’s Word inside of us? Psalm 1 describes a “blessed man” (or woman or child) as one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (v. 2). This tells me that to really “digest” God’s Word, we need to chew on it, think about it, pray it, and talk about it with others. And this takes time.

In a recent conversation with one of my child’s friends, I asked her, “Who do you look up to spiritually?” One little girl told me that she looks up to her grandmother who lives with her and her family. I said, “How does your grandmother point you to God?” She said, “First thing every morning when I get up, she is reading her Bible and I know she is praying for me. And she does devotions with me, too. I know she loves God so much.”

Our children are watching us to see what and who we prioritize. They observe how we spend our free time and where we exert the best of our energy and attention.

There are opportunities to seek the Lord with our kids in regular, everyday activities: chores, schoolwork, history lessons, and sibling squabbles. The list goes on. I can’t count the times we’ve been in the car and our conversation gives way to what God says in His Word. I joke sometimes that they can’t ask me to interpret the book of Revelation for them before I have my coffee. But even when they catch me off guard, I treasure these moments and thank God for the opportunities as they come both intentionally and spontaneously.

It’s not too late to write goals and resolutions for the new year. As I consider how to inspire more love in my children for God’s Word, I invite you to join me. What is one way you can create more space to train up your children in God’s Way? Perhaps it’s as simple as committing to a short Bible reading each day with your family.

For young children, I highly recommend Sally Lloyd Jones’s beautifully written and illustrated book The Jesus Storybook Bible, which right now is FREE to download on Amazon Kindle. Lately, we have enjoyed reading Louie Giglio’s devotion book Indescribable and loving it! A great thing about this book is that it appeals to kids of all ages. One of my good friends recommended The Story which they have been reading through slowly as a family.

One thing is sure: whatever we do to connect our children to God will produce fruit that will last far beyond our lifetime.