Teaching our children to love God is not so much a formulaic process that guarantees their faithfulness, as much as it is a way of life that we ourselves embody. They must see God reflected in our lives, hear His truth taught consistently from our mouths, see us worship Him outside the building, hear us attribute our blessings to Him, and see us turning to Him in prayer. Our children need to see that our faith is not confined to a church building or a scheduled Bible study, but is woven into every part of our lives. As parents, we must…
…strive to be like God. The way children view God is in many ways tied to how they view their parents. When a parent is harsh, critical, absent, unloving, or coarse, a child can begin to see God in the same way. We are the light of the world, and if our children never see good works from their parents, they will struggle to find reason to glorify their heavenly Father (Matt. 5:16). Do you tell your children that you love them? Are you a peacemaker in family conflict? Are you longsuffering when your children fail? Are you kind, gentle, faithful, and self-controlled? This is the fruit of God’s Spirit that we are called to possess (Gal. 5:22-23).
… actively teach our children about God. This cannot be done by proxy. Bible classes, youth programs, and church camps are not enough. They need it daily and consistently: “when you sit down in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7). Are we as eager to teach our children about God as we are to teach them how to throw a ball? Are we as eager to introduce them to the love of Jesus as we are to introduce them to the love of style or Disney? Furthermore, how often do we teach our children that God exists, yet fail to teach them how we can know that He exists? Our children need faith rooted in critical thinking, not simply, “I believe this because Mom and Dad do.”
… worship God in our homes with our family. The corporate worship assembly should be an essential part of a family’s routine. Families should not forsake the assembly (Heb. 10:25), communicating that God is the family’s number one priority. However, if the only time we worship with our family is within the walls of a church building, we are shortchanging our children. Family worship means the whole family sitting down together regularly to worship God. In our home, our children are often much more engaged in songs, prayers, and reading God’s word than when sitting on a pew in the building. When our children see us take the initiative to worship God in our own homes or beside a campfire with no one else around, it leaves an indelible mark.
… speak of the everyday blessings that come from God. If God’s name is only used when teaching about Him or worshipping Him, we may unintentionally suggest that God is only thought about during routine worship. Do we remind our children of how God has blessed us in the past? Part of the purpose of the Passover was to enable parents to explain to their children what the Lord had done in Egypt (Exod. 12:26-27). After crossing the Jordan, Joshua commanded twelve stones to be gathered so parents could tell their children of God’s protection. Do we speak of our conversion to Christ and the difference He has made in our lives? Do we communicate to our children that we see them as a blessing from God, not a hindrance to our plans (Ps. 127:3)? And do we speak with earnest anticipation of the promised blessings of a heavenly future?
… talk to God in the presence of our families. It is forever burned in my mind when I walked in on my father on his knees, face nearly on the ground, agonizingly praying out loud to God on behalf of his sister who had unexpectedly near death. Even children understand that you don’t do something unless you truly believe in it. Have your children witnessed you praying? Not only in front of the congregation, but because they unexpectedly found you on your knees? Perhaps the greatest evidence to our children of our faith in God is whether we will proactively go to God in prayer when no one else is looking (Matt. 6:5-7).
-Jordan Moore