How To Teach Spirituality to Kids

No matter how long you've been a believer, you can teach your children stupendous spiritual lessons. The key is to first be growing spiritually yourself and then passing truths on to your kids.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9 gives the instructions, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Train Table For Kids

Notice that the first job of any parent is to sustain their own connection with God and to cherish the system of God's Word in your own heart. Parenting has a way of forcing you to prayer and the study of the Bible. It's not too long before any parent realizes that help is needed for raising a child. God is the one who changes a child's heart, and parents are just the vehicles that God uses in the process. Parents are partners with the God of the universe to bring about heart change.

Some parents make the mistake of delegating the spiritual training of children to the church, believing that they're doing their spiritual duty by taking their kids to Sunday School and youth group. The church is a great keep but it can't take the place of the home when it comes to passing on a spiritual heritage. Even if you've chosen to send your children to a Christian school, you'll want to keep the role of customary spiritual teacher of your children.

Your spiritual transparency at home will do a lot to help open spiritual windows for your child. Take time to pray with your kids about the challenges they face, and thank the Lord for his answered prayers. You might say, "Son, I'm not feeling well today. Would you please pray for me before I go to work?" Or, "I'll be praying for you and your test today. I'll be eager to hear how it goes." Some parents only pray before meals or at bedtime but you want your kids to know that God is available all the time. Prayer makes that truth a reality.

Be creative in teaching kids the value of their spiritual growth. You might keep a increase chart on the back of a door to measure a child's bodily growth. Right next to it jot down milestones of spiritual increase and amelioration like a child's first communion, baptism, and when they took opportunity to share the faith or enjoy an answer to prayer.

Informal discussions about God supply children with in-life opportunities to see how faith applies to experience. As children see you talking about the Lord during daily operation they'll recognize the relevance of their spiritual lives. Also take time to set up some kind of formal spiritual training, but be sure to make it fun. The best devotions in family life don't normally happen nearby a table. With young children you might tell a Bible story in the closet with a flashlight. With an older child you might use a science experiment or cooking exercise to elucidate a spiritual truth.

One dad said, "We boiled three objects, a carrot, an egg, and coffee beans, and talked about the heat in our own lives and what it does to us. Some habitancy are like the carrot and come to be more limp and weak with pressure. Some are like the egg and come to be more hardened to life. And some are like the coffee beans that use the heat to work on their world with a pleasant smell and a nice drink." They laughed together as they talked nearby the stove and Dad gave some examples of habitancy he knew that acted like carrots or eggs.

Dad used the story of Joseph in Genesis to talk about the benefits of trials and suffering. Joseph was mistreated by his brothers, sold into slavery, mistreated by Potiphar's wife, thrown into prison, but he kept advent back. He was able to answer well in the midst of difficult problems that came into his life.

Dad reported that the operation was fun for their family but he continued, "A combine of days later my son came home from school and said, 'I was like the coffee, Dad.' I didn't know what he meant but he went on to tell me that there was a problem at school that he handled well and remembered the coffee beans we'd boiled."

Even if your mate isn't working with you on the spiritual training of the children, you do it faithfully and you'll see great rewards. One mom said, "I used to be discouraged because my husband wouldn't lead a devotion time in our family. I had to get over that because I knew that my kids needed spiritual training and I could give it to them. The marvelous thing was that as I began teaching spiritual truths to my kids, my husband became more interested as well. It wasn't long before he was also important spiritually with the kids."

Creativity can be a challenge sometimes. The most important thing is that you are transparent with your kids. If you are growing spiritually and sharing that with your children it'll make an impact on their hearts. Don't minimize the point of spiritual training. Sometimes sports, academics, and extra activities crowd out the most important things in a child's life. Remember that teaching spiritual truths to children isn't optional. It's part of our God-given responsibility. Many parents work hard to leave a financial patrimony for their kids. Don't forget to also leave a spiritual patrimony for them by training them spiritually.

How To Teach Spirituality to Kids