Last week, we learnt the importance of praying for our children and how to incorporate scripture in our prayers. This week, we’ll see how we can teach our kids about God.
“One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4)
As parents, we hold the bottom-line responsibility to teach our children about God. It is not something we can pass on to the church or the Sunday school teachers. But what do we teach them and when do we start?
My husband and I started teaching our kids about God when they were old enough to recognize the world around them. When they could identify the sky, clouds, trees, birds and animals; we started teaching them about God! Isn’t that where the Bible also starts? 🙂
An Awesome God
When our kids were old enough to identify nature, we started telling them how God made everything around them. We would point out to the sky, trees, animals… the sun, rain, lightening, thunder and tell them God made that. We didn’t use a children’s Bible or the creation story, but we should have. You’ll do better, right? 🙂
When kids start realizing how much God has created, they understand the awesomeness of God. And they might or might not say a few funny, yet impressive statements…
“See. It’s raining. Jesus turned the tap on.”
“Jesus, please stop the rain. I want to go out and play.”
A Personal God
It wouldn’t do any good if we taught our kids how awesome God is, and failed to mention how personal He is to each of them. When our kids were about two years old, we started telling them how close God is to them. We simply told them that Jesus lives in their hearts.
My husband even taught our kids this catchy song:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Jesus stays in my heart.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
Jesus stays in my heart.
Everyday, all the way, Jesus stays in my heart.
When a child was scared, we would explain that Jesus was awake, watching over them (Psalm 121:3-4). We used every opportunity we could, to tell our kids what God had done for us. “Jesus helped us buy a car” or “Jesus healed your tummy pain“, are just a few examples of statements that made God relevant in our kids’ daily lives. We also encouraged them to speak to Jesus, just as they would to anybody else {but more on that in next week’s post}.
For all that we teach our kids about God, none of it matters until they seek Him for themselves. While that may take a few years, we should remain obedient to God and teach our kids about Him. As I mentioned in my introductory post, I am learning alongside you. How do you teach your kids about God? Would you care to share with us in the comments below?
Other posts in this series:
- Let The Children Come: Introduction
- Let The Children Come: Pray for them
- Let The Children Come: Teach them about God
- Let The Children Come: Encourage them to pray
- Let The Children Come: Teach them God’s Word
- Let The Children Come: Be an example
If you are blessed by this series, would you consider sharing it with a friend? And if you don’t want to miss a future post, you can sign up to receive new blog posts by email, or in a reader.
Great ways to teach children about God. I am going to start telling my son about God using the sky etc and let him know Jesus is in his heart. I like how you use everyday moments to share God with your children.
Thank you for the encouraging words. God bless you loads!
Wow! This is awesome 🙂 Thanks for sharing
I’m going to teach Psalm 145 next week and I don’t know how to start telling kids in church till I read ur article. Thank you very much! God bless you! Polly
Glad to hear that Polly.. Hope you have a blessed time teaching the kids in church.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Just came across your blog when I saw the title of this post. It looked to be very encouraging until I read where you said that you and your husband tell your children that Jesus lives in their hearts. This is where you have me confused and very concerned. If you’re saying what I think you said, just telling them that Jesus is in their heart is very dangerous. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. And, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8. To tell our children or anyone for that matter that Jesus is in our heart without telling them we must first realize we are a sinner in need of a Savior is doctrinally incorrect. The title of your blog An imperfect life – made perfect by grace, tells me that you believe we are imperfect beings but by the grace of God through His Son Jesus, and what He did for us on the cross, he sees us as perfect through the blood of Jesus but ONLY when we have come to Him and asked forgiveness of our sins and accepted His gift of eternal salvation. That is what grace is, being given something we do not deserve. Hopefully I have misunderstood you.
Dear P, I completely agree with you. I believe that we are all sinners, saved by the blood of Jesus alone. My blog title implies that although I am saved, I am still imperfect; in need of God’s perfect grace every single day. We started teaching our kids that Jesus is in their heart, because we wanted them to realize how personal He is to them. Obviously when they were 2 years old, they were too young to understand the concept of sin and redemption. As they grow older, we do emphasize their need for a Savior and the significance of Jesus’ work on the cross. I hope to include resources on how to teach kids about salvation later on in the series. Thank you for your honest comment. God bless you!
I posted about something similar last week – teaching kids to memorize God’s Word. I get choked up reading your posts, it’s so wonderful to meet other parents who are so careful and intentional about raising their children to serve God. What a blessing you are! Thank you for linking this post up!!
Thank you, Rosilind. I have your post’s link for possible inclusion in this week’s “Let The Children Come” post :).