When my children look back on their childhood I want them to reminisce in the truth that their parents spent their days ensuring that they might KNOW Christ. Not every single minute of every single day has to be a Bible based activity, a devotion, or Bible teaching, but every single minute and every single thing that happens in our lives SHOULD glorify Christ. When they think about what was allowed into our home as far as entertainment, what behaviors were demonstrated, allowed, and how are those behaviors were dealt with, they should KNOW that all of the ordinary days were purposeful in directing them into living lives that glorify Christ.
Recently, I was reading in Psalm 78 and it really stood out to me when verse four said. "We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done."
Psalm 78 KJV
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
There is a world out there FILLED to the brim with ungodliness just waiting to entangle (us) and our children. What are we as parents doing to counteract the overflow of temptation waiting for our children right outside the walls of our home?
My pastor once gave an illustration about bank tellers, and how bank tellers are trained. When hired to work at a bank, they don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the bogus money they recognize it.
I want my children from an early age to know what is TRUTH and to know what is false! There are many false teachers, preachers, and doctrines out there and I don't have to teach those things, but I DO HAVE TO TEACH TRUTH. If we instill the truths of God's Word into them EARLY they will easily be able to identify the counterfeits when they are older. Teaching them so that they might KNOW the power of God, His Word, and that a life in Christ is one worth living!
Now, I'm not saying that I'm an expert, because I most certainly am not. After all, my kids are only 4, 2, and 1 at the time I am writing this post. But I thought that maybe it would help if I shared some ways that we are (at their young age) trying to make sure that the Word of God is going forth into their lives. That every day, we are asking the Lord for guidance on how to train them up in the way that Proverbs 22:6 says to do; so that when they are older, they will not stray from the truths that they have been engrained into their being.
Proverbs 22:6 KJV
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I want my children to look back when they are grown and be thankful for parents who were intentional to teach them about Christ. Parents who never hid their praises to Lord, the power of God, or God's wonderful works from them. I want them to KNOW at an early age how to set their affections on things above, how to hope in the promises of the Lord and most importantly to know and keep His commandments.
5 Ways (and resources) to Teach the Bible to Little Kids
I receive no commission off of any of these links, this is just to be a help.
#1 Good, Old Fashioned Family Devotions
Family devotions do not have to be intricate or complicated for little ones. Often I think that it might seem intimidating to try to get our little ones to sit still and to hear straight from Daddy or Mommy from the Word of God. But, this is how we train them for sitting still in service. It will take work on the front end, but it will ultimately help you in the long run. Sing songs together, use visuals like books, or objects. Find some good resources if it will help you. we’ve gone through the popular Bible stories with our little ones, but we’ve also used these resources from Caleb and Katie Garraway and they are really nice for family devotions as they go over verses and things that are critical for a family and things that children deal with. I really like too that they have the coordinating coloring books.
DEVOTION LINKS---
#2 KJV Bible “Reading” with Dramatized Audio
This is probably my boy’s most favorite thing. We have the KJV Bible App downloaded and I will connect my phone to a bluetooth speaker to let them listen to the Bible being read. They will play with play dough, color, or draw while they listen. We are working our way through the Old Testament now, but they will also request some of their favorite Bible stories such as Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, or Daniel and the Lion’s Den. With it being read aloud in a “dramatized” way it makes it fun for them to listen along.
#3 CD Player Available with Song CD’s
In our playroom we have a CD Player as an option for entertainment. Because our children do not watch a lot of television or have a lot of screen time having this form of entertainment is really special for them. With their CD Player we are very intentional about the CD’s that we provide for the kids. Linked below are some of our favorites—
CD LINKS --
You can also check out my Bible Kids Playlists on Spotify
#4 CD Player Available with Bible Story CD’s
Just as having good music to fill our playroom, we also have Bible Story options for entertainment. Here are some of our favorites—
BIBLE STORY LINKS --
#5 Scripture Memory Work
We have been working on scripture memory with a verse that coordinates with each letter of the alphabet. You just might be surprised how much your little ones can memorize and recite. If they can memorize cartoon songs, and everything else they certainly can memorize and hide God’s Word into their hearts. We are using the Abeka Alphabet Scripture Memory Cards
Also, I really like this video (and my kids do too!) The verses do not all coordinate with the Abeka Cards, but it’s still a really great resource for hiding God’s Word in their heart. All verses on the video are King James Version.
These are just some of our favorite resources for teaching our littles in our home about the Lord, and His Word. What am I missing out on? Are there any more resources that could be added to this list?
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