My biggest desire as a parent is for my kids to know and love God. One of the ways to know and enjoy God is by spending time reading and mediating on His Word. I want my kids to be able to enjoy the Bible.
Publishers have done a good job of making attractive kid covers and sizes for Bibles. There are several great story Bibles for young kids, but there is still this big step into reading and thinking about the Bible. I have a few suggestions for how we can help our families fall in love with the Bible.
Read Aloud to Your Kids
Parents, your first thought may be “my kids will never sit quietly around me and pay attention as I read.” You don’t have to make them sit perfectly still and listen intently to every word. Gather them in the same room with you and have everyone get comfortable, keep it fun, and just read.
The Word of God is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12). God can work just as your kids hear His word from their parents. Let them hear your voice and love for God’s Word. Start and see what happens next.
Read Together
Choose a Bible book and begin reading it together. Maybe it’s still you reading to them, maybe they read to you, or maybe you both read independently. Move to spending time together reading God’s Word.
Family Memory Competition
Take a month to see how many verses everyone in the family can memorize. Choose a fun prize for the winner and go. Build fun and excitement into knowing God’s Word.
One of the difficulties with loving the Bible is that it is a big book that can be hard to understand. I believe one of the best ways to help your kids love the Bible is to help them have a framework to think about what they have read.
There are a lot of great models and questions to ask as you discuss what you have just read. Here is a framework you and your children can use to read the Bible together:
- Talk with God and ask Him to show you His truth
- Remember this is God’s story you are reading
- Read
- Think about what you read
- Ask a few questions to help you think about what you read. Look for at least one question to answer.
- What happened? What amazing thing did God do?
- Who did God love and how did he show his love?
- Who did God do something with?
- What did God’s people do? How did they act?
- What do I not understand? Who can I ask to help me understand?
One Last Recommendation
The Bible Project. Their videos and podcasts are so helpful in understanding the Bible and helping it come alive. https://bibleproject.com/explore/
You can do it parents. God gave you your kids on purpose. Have fun parenting them through life and helping them know and understand how incredible God is.
Thanks for this very helpful encouragement for all of us, Pastor Daniel. May we, our children and grandchildren In the Body of Christ never be rebuked by these words of Jesus,
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. From Matt 22:29 and Mk 12:24