“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:7
Teaching Our Kids
Those teachable moments are so hard to find; or are they?
God asks us to teach our children His ways: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:7
Is God really talking to us? Or was this command only for the Israelites. After all, they are the chosen. Maybe God wanted to make sure they would do the right thing because they so often messed up. Whining and complaining about missing things from Egypt. They were thirsty out in the desert, but they were not enslaved anymore. They didn’t have their leaks and other food they meagerly enjoyed in Egypt, but God provided manna and quail. Always walking, walking the dry desert land. However, God promised them a land of milk and honey. Seems the Israelites were too busy complaining about life in general, instead of teaching their children God’s ways.
Back to the original question: Does God want us to teach our children while we sit, when we walk, before bedtime, and when we first wake up in the morning about God?
If we take a look at verse five it says, “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Sounds like the Israelites needed to be living their faith. Yep, seems like God is talking to the Israelites, but let’s jump out of the Old Testament and merge into the New Testament. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” He’s talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees here, but then there is that ever famous verse that children all over the world memorize, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Hmm, looks like all believers have the responsibility to teach their children about God. God knows how often we mess up too. But still He wants us to grow spiritually and to help our children do the same. So how do we cram spiritual stuff into our busy days? Consider some simple points:
- Pray that you are sensitive to the Holy Spirit daily to share with your child as situations come up
- Be in a growing relationship with Jesus by opening your Bible regularly, hey maybe even daily, and read a few verses to grow in your faith
- Listen to solid Christian teachers at church or via radio
- Pray in front of your children
- Say sorry to your children when you’ve blown it
- Watch your conversation with others… are you building people up or tearing them down… are you being truthful or flirting with little white lies (there is no such thing as a little white lie… sin is sin no matter what the size)
- Purchase a good children’s bible and read it daily to them
- Allow your children to be exposed to children bible story DVD’s (their watching TV anyway so feed them something good)
- Check out CD’s available from many sources Patch the Pirate, Adventures in Odyssey, Psalty’s Kids, Jonathan Parks, and so many more.
We have so much available to us to be able to teach our kids to love God. Don’t miss the opportunity to share with them the greatest gift you, as a parent, can give them. Most of all, share with them what God is doing in your own life. Together you can learn to love God with all of your heart, soul, and strength; as you wake up, throughout the day (no matter what you’re doing), and before you settle down at night. Those little feet fit nicely into your own prints.
Welcome to another week of Scribbling Spiritual Sand. What and inheritance we can pass to our children and grandchildren. Thanks so much for being part of this growing Christian Community. Tell your blogging friends to join us!
- Link to only your post dealing with our prompt
- Grab my button and post it on your page (thanks again to Sheila who made it possible)… visit her at Aberrant Art Blog
Poetry and Prose Blog - If you’d like, leave a comment after linking
- Take time to visit other participant’s post
- Thanks for stopping in… and have a great week!
And Joining:
Jennifer@GDWJ
/ March 8, 2012This mother of two loves, loves, loves those bullet-points! Thank you, friend.
Sheila
/ March 6, 2012what a wonderful post. You have touched on so many great points. I think it is important to be a good example but also to teach them that no one is perfect and that messing up is ok as long as we show them how to ask for forgiveness, make ammends, and to ask God to help us do better in the future. I am off to scribble some spiritual sand. be back later.
claudia
/ March 5, 2012i agree with brian – they watch us constantly – how we react to different situations, how we talk to other people, how we live everyday life…and that speaks louder than thousand words..
Pat Hatt
/ March 5, 2012Yeah they watch everything one does like a hawk. Picking up on things they think are fun and going with it. So all one needs to do is have some fun with what they want to teach and that’s half the battle.
suzicate
/ March 5, 2012Lovely post. As Brian above states, they are always watching and learning. We must try to be a good example for them to follow.
wolfsrosebud
/ March 5, 2012knowing we can’t do it on our own
brian miller
/ March 5, 2012i think part of this is realizing that even if we are not conciously doing it, we are teaching our children…they are watching us and everything we do…and the teaching opportunities are all around us…it is in the recognizing of that…
wolfsrosebud
/ March 5, 2012Sure is a scary thought!