5 ideas for teaching your children about God

["I'm gonna read about how God died on a cross.", said Manny,  as he enthusiastically 

opened this Bible Story book from the library and plopped down on the floor]

If you've ever thought "I know I need to teach my children about God, but I just don't know where to start"... If you've ever felt under-qualified, unprepared, or even unwilling...then this post is for you.  We all need a little encouragement sometimes.  It takes effort and perseverance to make teaching the Bible to our children a high priority.  They will not learn it from us by osmosis.  We must take the time to teach them it's life-giving truths even as we are learning them ourselves.  And so I've listed here five ideas to get you going.  Nothing earth shattering, just some things that have worked for us and that I hope will be an encouragement to you.  May God bless your efforts as you make teaching your children about him a top priority.


5 ideas for teaching your children about God

1.  Teach them about what you read in your Bible that day.  It doesn't have to be some finely constructed lesson.  Just share with them what you are reading and what you are learning.  Casually and naturally interact with them and let them see your enthusiasm for God come through.

2.  Don't let it discourage you if you haven't spent time with God on your own.  Satan would love to derail you with this one.  Open the Bible together!  Read a passage or a chapter or ONE VERSE.  After all, sometimes less is more.  "One verse" times work really well with the Proverbs.  Pick one and talk about it.  Learn to ask them questions to get them thinking.  This takes a little practice and sometimes you will feel like you are not accomplishing much and your questions are kind of dumb.  But don't let that stop you.  The more you do it the better you'll get at it.  If you're a little more ambitious, a good place to open up to and read a chapter are the gospels.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Take your pick!  You can open up anytime and tell them about something amazing Jesus did.  And don't be surprised if you find yourself edified and encouraged.

[This is one we got from the library from Zonderkidz]

3.  If possible, keep a Children's Bible handy.  Put it on the end table or coffee table in the living room.  Did you know they have these at the library?  There are many to choose from and if you renew once, you could keep one on your table for sixty days.  This has helped me when I can't afford to go out and spend money on a book.  Having a Children's Bible handy encourages a spontaneous, middle of the day opening of the Bible.  The pictures will grab your child's attention and motivate interest in the story.  Having one on our coffee table has led to my children asking me to read it to them.  And believe me, that is a request that I don't think I've ever turned down!

[This is from our Seek and Find Bible, Crossway, ESV.  We've even gotten creative and used the pictures for Power Point presentations that I use to teach the kids the Bible.  The Bible account is right next to the picture and it also contains the full Bible text.  I've mentioned before that I like this Bible a lot! :) ]

4.  Use a favorite hymn, maybe one that you sang at church recently, and teach your children truths about God from it.  The hymns are so packed with doctrine and are a wonderful way to teach about God.  You can make copies for each of your children to read from.  Sing it together and then each day teach them about a different verse.  Define difficult words for them (and you!).  Use it as a springboard for a lesson on a Bible passage.  Ask them questions and get them talking.

5.  If you know a Bible account well enough to tell it from memory, do it!  I find that this is what captivates my children most.  Just the fact that you can tell it from the heart, with animated expression and enthusiasm keeps their attention better than anything.  You can casually bring it up at the dinner table.  You could say "Hey kids, this morning I was reading ______ and I was so encouraged to read about how God _______."  Share the account with them in your own words.  They'll love that.  It shows them that it means something to you because you have spent time on it and thought about it.  We have done this after dinner on occasion.  The last time we did this, it was actually Amera who told them all about when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  It was great and we interacted a lot as she asked us questions.  It was neat for me to see that my oldest daughter was able to teach them so well.

There are so many ways that you can spend time with your children with a focus on God's word.  Maybe I'll do another post in the future with five more!

What ideas have worked well for your family?  Please share!