To Love The Bible
Back in January, I promoted a book by author Danika Cooley called Help Your Kids Learn & Love the BIBLE. This month I would like to open the book and just pull out some highlights that as parents of younger children (or grandparents, or the favorite aunt or uncle) we can use to motivate our kids—and ourselves—to learn and love the Book of Books, God’s letter to us.
One of the key questions is “How early should I start teaching the Bible at home?”. I love the verse in 2 Timothy 3:15, where the Apostle Paul reminds young Timothy of his early childhood foundations in the Holy Scriptures. Paul says, “From a child you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Some translations, like the NIV, NASB, and ESV use the words of “since infancy” or “from your childhood”, or “as a babe”. From where did Timothy receive his deep biblical foundation? According to the surrounding passages, his grandmother Lois, and his mother, Eunice, were the ones instrumental in teaching Timothy and giving him his love for God and His Word. Interestingly enough, the next verse talks about the value of that Scripture—that it is useful for “teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Who wouldn’t want to impart that to their children?!
So how are some practical ways that we can impart the Living Words of God into our children so that as they grow they will be trained in the right way of life? It doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t even have to take a lot of time to set up, or huge amount of investment in money or even time. Kids learn about life and the world through exposure. Little people love what their big people love. When you introduce your littles to the Bible, with enthusiasm, they will want to learn more about the wonderful Book you are delighting in, the Jesus you love to talk about, and the salvation you treasure above all.
First of all, we need to evaluate our own desires and level of commitment to God and His Word. If we are lukewarm in our relationship to God, our children will not see that it is important to their very own life and future. Secondly, Biblical literacy is a thing. A good thing. Not an end-all thing, however, but we do need a systematic and intentional teaching of God’s Word. That will introduce our kids to the basis of knowing and reverencing God—which leads to wisdom and understanding in every aspect of their life. Bible knowledge is just the beginning.
As parents, we have been instructed to “teach all the words of God diligently to your children, and you 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.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) Notice that it doesn’t say to teach them God’s Word when they go to Sunday School, when they attend Awana Clubs, and when they go to Children’s Church or hear the sermon themselves. This commandment is at-home training! 24-hours/7 days a week. How can you do that?
The Bible must become daily nourishment for us. As we go stronger in the Word, we begin to want to share it with those precious to us. Actually reading the Bible, listening to audio Bible in the car, faithfully going to church and Bible Study, and reading the Bible to our kids, all that will give us the desire to share what we are learning with our kids, of teaching them how God works in our daily lives, how He guides, protects, loves, and desires how we should live for Him. Imitation is also a result. Kids love to imitate their parents. They see us with an open Bible on our lap—they’ll ask for their own Bible! They hear the Bible App being played in the car—they will want to hear the kids’ version as they drift off to sleep at night!
In the next few months, I want to get to some really practical ways to make Bible learning a joy to our kids. Stay tuned!
----Shari Coelho
Children’s Ministry Director of SRBC