Every morning during breakfast time, my kids and I have our Bible time. Typically, it looks like listening through a chapter or two of the Bible and reviewing some memory verses. Currently, my kids are ages 1, 4, 6, and 8. As you can imagine, my youngest child adds quite a lot of insightful comments throughout this time about her reflections and meditations on the passage. Ahem. Most of the comments revolve around the topic of requests for more food, drink, and entertainment, so we clearly have a bit of maturing to do.

Recently my kids and I completed a character study through the book of Proverbs. It was a simple study that didn’t take more than 15 minutes a day. But it proved to be very helpful for each of us.

What We Did

At the beginning of this study, I explained to my kids that we were going to listen through the book of Proverbs and look for specific characters, namely the Fool, Wise, Scorner/Scoffer, and Simple. Whenever they heard one of those words, they could call it out. Of course, this turned into a competition and they were each trying to see who could identify and yell out the word before the other siblings. Sometimes I had to tone things down a bit for sanity’s sake. But I was glad for the positive peer pressure in encouraging each other to pay attention to the Bible.

Each day, we would listen to a portion of Proverbs, look for occurrences of these four characters, and talk about their actions before writing them down. Some days we only listened to part of a chapter while other days we listened to two chapters, depending on how many character traits there were to talk through.

By the time we reached Proverbs 31, we had come up with quite a list!

(I should note that my children are not standing under their respective characters.
Although I couldn’t have planned their facial expressions any better. ;))

How This Study Changed Me

The book of Proverbs is full of warnings and advice about life topics from the way we use our words to how we spend our money. But laced throughout the entire book is a vivid contrast of the wise and foolish. The wise person listens to advice, loves those who correct him, and brings joy to his parents. In contrast, the foolish person despises people who correct him, doesn’t care to understand (but only to express his own opinion), and is a disgrace to his parents.

Do you love listening to advice?
Do you find your heart drawn to the person who corrects you?
Yikes. I sure don’t. And that admission places me squarely in the category of the fool.

This study was immensely helpful to me. Nothing like the straight-up truth of God to show you that you are not as wise as you thought you were. God used this study to reveal how very much like a fool I tend to act in my response to authority and correction.

How This Study Changed My Children

My children and I have spent months talking about the differences between the wise and foolish person.
The wise person seeks knowledge, but the fool hates it.
The wise receive honor but the fool gets disgrace.
The wise work diligently, but the fool is lazy.
The wise love instruction and the person who corrects them but the fool despises correction.
Talk about a great backdrop for discipleship!

Our study through the Proverbs has been fruitful in providing excellent conversations with my children. Because we’ve spent such a long time talking about these character differences, they are often able to pinpoint their actions as either foolish or wise without my assistance. Obviously, that doesn’t mean they’re always responding as wise children. It just means that when I talk with them about their actions, we’re able to have a conversation that’s rooted in their knowledge of Scripture rather than just “what Mom thinks” or even “what Mom tells me the Bible says.”

This study has also helped me as I encourage my children to develop close friendships with wise children.
Obvious question: How do you know if someone is wise?
What does the Bible say? The wise person responds well to authority and correction.
So then: How do you and your friends respond when you’re corrected?

I’ve even gone so far as to talk with them about their future spouse. An excellent way to know whether you’re dating a wise or foolish person is to watch what happens when someone tells them they’re wrong. It really doesn’t matter whether they’re wrong or right. Their reaction to correction will reveal either a foolish or wise heart.

If you’re looking for a way to teach your kids the Bible, let me encourage you to begin a character study through the book of Proverbs. If your kids are older than mine, consider buying a notebook for each of them where they can keep their own lists and write out the corresponding verses. I trust this will be a fruitful study for you.

May God give us grace to “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).