Giving Your Kids An Accurate View of God
Teaching our kids about God is one probably the biggest responsibility that Christian parents face. And sometimes it is an overwhelming task because there is so much to know about God, that we (parents) are still learning. Most of us don’t have a PhD in Theology. Some of us have never memorized all of the catechisms. And we struggle to memorize even simple scripture passages.
Can we teach our kids about God? Absolutley. And God has told us that this is not an optional area. see verse
So what do we need in order to teach our kids about God?
1. We need to have an accurate view of God ourselves.
Not “know” as though you know facts. Just because you have read the dictionary in parts does not mean you know Noah Webster. And just reading the Bible does not mean you know God. Knowing God is relational–and the Bible is the only place God reveals himself to us. What we believe about God determines how you live, treat others and will impact the image of God that you pass along to your children. We cannot portray God to our kids as someone who is just waiting to “zap you dead” you when you do wrong, some grandfatherly old soul who doesn’t care about how we live, or some distant, unknowable ghostlike being. These are all innaccurate views of God.
2. “God awareness” in your everyday talk.
You shouldn’t just talk about God on Sunday when you get into the car to go to church. Our “everyday” conversation should be saturated with a knowledge and awareness of God. Things like “Oh, let’s ask God to provide that need for us,” and “Is God happpy with our behaviour right now?” or “How would Jesus have treated them?” should be part of the norm in a Christian family. God is here in your home and has an opinion about how you live, regard his Word and what kind of “ambassador” you are for Him and his kingdom. Don’t misrepresent Christ to your kids or to others by speech that maligns Him, or misrepresents him.
3. We need to be in the Word
When you are in the Word are coming to it in order to change and grow, you are less susceptable to falling for false doctrine or false teachers. You are putting your family on sure footing by checking everything in life with scripture. Teach your children to read the Bible to see what it tells them about God.
One easy way to teach your kids to see what God is like, is to give them a highlighter and to have them highlight all of the attributes of God (whenever it says “God is ___________) or any of the acts of God (God pitieth his children.) Not only does this make it easy for you child to start studying the Bible at an early age, but when he flips through scripture, the TRUTH about God jumps off the page to him. And as he is growing, it will be easy to see how his life should look as he grows in Christlikeness. (God is merciful, so I should be merciful. God is kind, so I must be kind.)
My daughter Hope, age 8, always wants to “study” near me. (She tries to be quiet, I am sure– but her idea of studying quietly is a *wee bit* different than my idea! There are lots of questions, movement, wiggling, humming, etc.) Here is her little Bible and what this method looks like:
(Plus, most kids love to highlight and underline in their Bibles…so this method gets them looking for things to
highlight! :))
How do you teach your kids about God? Feel free to tell us in the comments.
oh i really enjoyed reading this! when my daughters were little, we would write scripture verses on index cards and tape them around the house…simple ones…but it was getting the Word into their hearts and minds…my fave way now is to read a book and do family discussion….and my youngest and I are going through the Bible chronologically this year…it’s fun to talk about the various things we are learning…i also try to find “God moments’ in our every day lives and teach them to find those things at school, home, neighborhood, etc. We turn almost every situation into a God moment! lol…..great post….
This is terrific! I love that what you’ve included is what parents should be doing themselves – living out an authentic faith in Christ with their children. I recently spent a month teaching the ABC’s of God to my young kids – as they are both learning alphabetical order and letter sounds. I found attributes of God in Scripture that began with the corresponding letter and we came up with a song to go with it along with writing down the Bible verses and memorized how marvelous God is! (God is Awesome and Amazing, Believable and Beautiful, Compassionate Creator, Defender and Deliverer…) Maybe one day soon I’ll get this list up on my blog because it’s not just for kids to know – it has increased my faith so much just learning about God’s character 🙂
Thank you for your encouraging blog!
I like the idea of having the word throughout your house. At the kitchen sink, bathroom mirror, at the corner of the computer. Places where you see the verses everyday so you can memorize them.
Great message. Thank you for sharing. This truly blessed my heart and parenting.
An excellent post! Thanks so much for sharing…