by: Sandy Domelle
Psalm 25:4, “Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.”
As a young girl, I often heard stories of mom’s and grandma’s who spent time reading the Old Black Book to their children and grandchildren. I remember having family devotions as a child and learning about key Bible stories, Bible characters and certain character traits. How sad it is today as you talk to families that family devotions are a thing of the past. Families are supposedly so busy that they have little time for it. I’ve learned one thing, if I’m too busy for God then I’m too busy.
It seems parents have left the Biblical training of their children to the Sunday school teacher, junior church workers, bus worker, and the preacher. Somewhere along the line the second and third generation Christians are dropping their standards and thinking it’s less important for things to be taught to their children by the parents. If you don’t teach your children, the likelihood of your children and grandchildren being in church declines.
Deuteronomy 6:5-8 says, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.”
You can’t help read these verses and see that God has given us direction on how we are to train our children. Verse 7 admonishes us to teach them diligently. It doesn’t say everyone else, this command was given to each individual parent. I know many families where the dad works at night, so it’s more difficult to have family devotions, but the mother can still do this with the children. The dad can lead them on the weekends. One thing I have learned and this applies to anything I want, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” Devotions can be in the morning at breakfast, as soon as the kids are home from school or at bedtime. Just having time to teach your children the things of the Bible is so very important.
What Types Of Things Should You Teach Your Children?
Key Bible Stories – You can go through your Bible and read to your children the stories of the Bible. I am amazed at how many of our children don’t know some of the main stories in the Bible. They should know the things of creation, the plagues, the ten commandments, etc. There are some stories that have more interesting facts for children, and some that they may not understand as easily. As the mom, you can make these stories come alive by having your children help read the stories, act them out, quizzing them on them with maybe a prize for their favorite dessert that week, or staying up a little longer before bed, etc.
Bible Characters – This goes hand-in-hand with the Bible stories. There are some people in the Bible who will be great role models whom you can build up to your children to emulate. There are also Bible characters from whom we learn because of the wrong they did or how their life was destroyed due to bad choices. Those stories are also great teaching tools to help your children see the result of sin in our lives. I love learning about Bible characters! I think another help to your children as they learn about these characters is to emphasize the book of the Bible where the story is found. You could quiz your children so that they have a knowledge of where things are in the Bible. Even as adults we know of certain stories, but it’s sad that we can’t find them right away. It takes us getting out a concordance or a Bible search to find them.
Books of the Bible – Teaching takes time, but it’s sad when the older children and teenagers that have grown up in church can’t get the books of the Bible straight anymore. If it’s not reviewed in the Christian school, they seem quite lost when it comes to finding their Scriptures. Family devotions is a great time to work on helping your children learn their books of the Bible. This would be a great time to make a game of knowing their books of the Bible and to make devotion time fun.
Standards and Convictions – This is an area that many parents don’t go into with their children. The children then struggles with these areas because they are just doing what they are told to without the Biblical explanation of why. Maybe it’s because your parents never taught you. That should be even more of a reason for you to find a Scripture verse to back the things that you teach your children what is wrong. Why is smoking bad? Why are tattoos bad? Why are drugs bad? Why do we have dress standards? Why is the King James Bible the one we use?
Bible Verses – If your child goes to a Christian school, they probably have Scriptures they learn each week. But, if your child goes to a public school, private school or is homeschooled, be sure that you give them at least one verse a week to learn. I think one of the best things a parent can do is to be sure their child is learning the Bible. Why? Because it will be what helps them get through so many things in life. It will be their source of strength in the hardships they go through, but it will also be their joy as they have victories. It will also help them to do right and live right. The Bible says in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” It will be a guide in their life. Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Character Traits – The Bible is a great source of teaching our children things that will help them with life. They will deal with jealousy, anger, bitterness, and many other issues that the Scriptures can help them overcome. You can also teach them things of faith, love, forgiveness and the list goes on. When you see your child begin to struggle in an area, give them a verse to look up and read daily as they overcome it. What I love about this principle is that you are teaching your children to run to God’s Word to find the answers in life.
Prayer Time – It’s important to teach our children all the things listed above, but be sure you end it out with prayer time. It doesn’t have to be long. We can read and know the things of the Lord, but our relationship with the Lord grows as we talk to Him. Your children need to see answers to prayer and have a heart to pray for those who need it. They will have tests at school that you can pray with them about and then make it big that God answered and helped them through it.
I truly believe that people have gotten away from family devotions because they feel it’s going to be a long drawn out thing. It doesn’t have to be. You can make it as short as you need, but the principle of sitting together as a family, learning from God’s Word and then praying is one that will help your family grow.
As parents, we desperately need to teach our children from God’s Word. So often you hear young people quote things they hear, but they are just taking an adult at their word. We need to teach them that God has given us principles to guide our lives, and we find every one of those answers in the Bible. It’s not what man says, it is what God says that matters.