Are you Intentional about the Spiritual Well-being of Your Kids?

May 15, 2016

Dr. Randy Carlson

Back in the Old Testament, people shared the Word of God through stories—talking and sharing allowed one generation to pass it down to the next. After God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, He instructed the Israelites to share His commandments as they went about their day.

You can do the same in your family today. One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is getting God’s Word into their hearts and helping them to see the application of what Scripture says about life. What would happen if you selected just one verse every morning and discussed a practical application with your children?

Ask them how people in today’s world might ignore that verse.
Ask how the Truth from that verse can make your child’s life better when they’re facing difficulty.
Encourage them to think about it that day and apply it to the different challenges they face throughout the day.
Come back together at the end of the day and discuss how they applied that verse to their day.
Here’s one to get you started. In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
What do you think that verse means to kids today?
How does disobeying that command impact our lives?
Why did God even put that in the Bible?

If you shared one verse together every day for ten years, that would be 3,650 verses acting as points of light in your child’s life. The entire New Testament has 7,958 verses. If, while your children are young, you took one verse and spent five or ten minutes discussing it, over a period of ten years you would have discussed 46 percent of all of the verses from the New Testament in detail with your children!

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As your children grow, each will take God’s Word in their heart with them. Even if they walk away from God, they’ll have the Truths you’ve shared at your kitchen table over all these years. The first step is a decision of intentionality. They’re not going to learn about the Truths of God and your love for them from external sources. This is an inside job. It begins in your family, it begins in your home, and it begins when you make a decision to be intentional about the spiritual well-being of your kids.