"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Janet and I teach Christopher about God and his word in many different ways. Most of our teaching is informal. Biblical topics arise while we are playing, traveling, and watching cartoons.
However, ever since we were able to hold him in the hospital after his birth, we have tried to help our son know Christ intentionally.
After meals, we read the daily devotional from Our Daily Bread. Then we read a memory verse. (Lately we have been concentrating on Proverbs 29:25.) We try to make sure Christopher understands unfamiliar words and concepts. After he is able to repeat the verse from memory (which usually takes about 10 days), we move on to another verse. Then we pray. Most of the time, Christopher prays for the firefighters, police officers, and paramedics.
At bed time, Christoper will sit on my lap in my recliner. I will read a story from either The Beginners Bible or the Little Boys Bible Storybook for Fathers and Sons. Then I will sing I Stand in Awe and How Great Thou Art. (Sometimes Christopher sings along with me.) After I'm done, Janet takes my place and sings Jesus Loves Me, Lord Give Me Peace, and Sweet Little Baby Boy (an original song by Janet for Christopher). Then he goes to bed.
Of course, as Christopher grows up, our methods will change. Eventually, he will be reading, too.
Do you have intentional methods of teaching your children about Christ? Please share them in the comments section. I would love to read about some other ideas.
6 comments:
First of all, how sweet to hear how your family is Christ-centered. It really blessed my soul. And your son praying for the firefighters - my husband is one! Thank you! :0)
We teach our children through daily conversations, pointing out things in day-to-day life. We also have our Sunday school time together as a family at home instead of going to church and spreading out in three different directions (like we used to do). Another way we teach our children about Christ is by homeschooling them. All of our school curriculum is Christ-centered. Of course when they were younger we did much of what you are doing. I miss the holding them and singing part - they're too big for that now.
Christy,
Thanks for the input! I like your idea about having Sunday school at home. In a week and a half, our son will start kindergarten. Since he will need to get to bed early, we will have trouble attending Bible classes on Wednesday nights as we normally do. I think we may try your approach and have a Bible class for him at home (at least until he can manage his new schedule).
I appreciate your dedication to raising your children to follow Christ. And, I know that I'm going to miss the holding the singing part of raising our son sooner than I think.
it was very encouraging to read what you wrote and your desire for your children, that they may be great in God's sight. I think that itself clears up the path for God to give you and your wife wisdom in bringing them up. [all that is left is to acknolwledge our lack of it :-)]
back at my home fellowship (please do visit our web site www.cfcindia.com) there are a couple of things we are often reminded.
- more than the sunday school, our daily life speaks to our children. how we react to situations, money, people, wrong numbers, door to door salesmen, etc.
- sunday school should reward habbits like, obedience, attentiveness, attention, honesty and not the test of skill and memory alone. The later are anyway promoted in school!
- are the Chrstlikeness more important to us than marks and medals. It will come out in daily practical expecations.
this link too might encourage you
http://www.cfcindia.net/tbsaudio/25_Basic_Christian_Teachings/51_Bringing_Up_Godly_Children.mp3
God bless
Uday,
Thank you for your comment and the links. You are the first person to contact me on my blog from India. I like what you had to say about developing character within our children rather than merely teaching them skills that they can learn at school. You are absolutely right about that.
I believe this is a very important aspect for teaching our children the faith -- to find how our every day activities, even the more mundane, interact with God and the life God has called us too.
Rex
Rex,
Thanks for the comment. I was reminded of something my mother told me years ago after she had taken care of one of my young nephews. They were walking along when they came across a bug on the trail. My nephew wanted to kill it just for fun. My mother told him that the bug probably had a mommy and a daddy as well as sisters and brothers. How would they feel if that bug never made it back home? Although it was just a bug, my mother used the opportunity to teach my nephew a little about the Golden Rule (treating others as you would want to be treated). I have always thought that her story is a great illustration of how we can teach biblical principals to children in the routine of our normal lives.
Thanks for stopping by!
Post a Comment