“My children are too young to understand the Bible.”
First off, let me just say this: you might be right. Your kids might be too little to grasp the fact that God created the world by speaking, that Jesus became a human while remaining fully God, and that the Spirit of God lives inside believers. They may be too young to understand deep theological truths from the Bible.
I get it. I have a one-year-old and I know she didn’t understand our recent character study through the book of Proverbs. However, the time we spent was still beneficial. How was it beneficial if she didn’t understand? Besides beginning to learn to sit still and be (at least partially) quiet, she learned that there is something very important that her Mommy, brothers, and sister are doing. As she gets older, she’ll learn that what we’re doing is studying the very words of God.
I submit that parents should start teaching the Bible to their children even before they can understand. Although they may be too young to enroll in a theology class, they are never too young to learn about biblical priorities (AKA what should be important in their lives). And you are never too young to start teaching them.
Here are 3 reasons to teach your children the Bible while they’re young:
It establishes a habitual teaching time.
In my experience, one of the biggest challenges to teaching your children the Bible is finding and taking the time to do it. Especially when children are little, there seems to be a constant stream of needs and crises. The need for food is quickly followed by the need for a diaper change and multiple naps. And that’s just the baby! Teaching your children the Bible while they’re little forces you, the parent, to set aside time every day for this activity. When you first begin, you may think a certain time of day will work but realize you have to switch gears and find a new time. Starting while they’re young gives you time to experiment with your schedule and find out what works best for you. The beauty of starting while they’re young is that children are more flexible when they’re young. There’s no need to explain to your 18-month old that you’re switching Bible time to the morning instead of the evening because they’re going to be wherever you are anyway.
As children grow older, they will have tasks and events (such as school and chores) that make demands on their schedule. Teaching them while they’re tiny establishes a habitual teaching time before any other activities crowd out that time.
It demonstrates that there is something more important than their own agenda.
My one-year-old never wants to be quiet during our Bible time. In fact, it’s a prime time for her to talk, sing, or yell (depending on her mood) because the rest of the family is quiet. Plus, it’s an opportune time for her to get attention from her siblings because they aren’t allowed to do anything except listen to the Bible and they would much rather be amused by the antics of their little sister. I’m working with her on this. It’s slow going and we aren’t seeing any fast changes, but I’m pretty sure that’s the name of the game in parenting.
As I work with my children to sit quietly and think deeply as they listen to the Bible, I am teaching them that there is something vastly more important than what they want to do. There is even something more important than Mom’s to-do-list. The most important thing we can do during Bible time is to seek to let the word of Christ dwell richly in us. My agenda & my kids’ agenda are subject to God’s Word. As you and your children daily sit still and quiet your hearts before the Word of God, you demonstrate that this is the most important thing going on in our home right now. We cannot bow before the shrine of our plans for the day. Rather, understanding God’s Word must be our main agenda.
It forces you to verbalize your beliefs.
Oh, this is my favorite benefit. I never knew how shoddy my theological thinking was until I became a parent and tried explaining things to my children. Here’s the thing: When you try to explain something in a way that makes sense to a child, you find out whether you understand it. Being tasked with teaching my children about the Bible means I need to understand it first. And I need to understand it so thoroughly that I can make it simple enough for a child to understand.
There have been many instances when one of my kids has asked a question and I’ve started explaining my answer only to end up more confused at the end. Sometimes my attempted answer dissolves into, “You know what, I’m actually not sure. Let’s ask Daddy when he gets home.” In the end, though, I am the parent who is most often at home and teaching my children. It is not enough for me to just say, “Oh, that’s a Bible question; you’ll have to wait for your Dad.” Of course, it’s a great thing to ask Daddy and get him involved in our spiritual discussions. But that’s not enough. As the Mom, you must know what you believe and why you believe it—not just for your children, but for your own heart.
As we seek to teach our children in the Word of God, we can take great comfort in this passage from Isaiah 50:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Let’s pray that the seed of God’s Word would take root in the soil of our children’s hearts and bear much fruit for eternity.
Christa Threlfall is a pastor’s wife, mom of four, and author of Come to Jesus: What if God Designs Your Days to Keep You Running Back to Him? She and her family live in Concord, New Hampshire.
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