Elizabeth Spencer
1. Walk before you talk.
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!” (Revelation 3:15)
Last summer, when my family and I were at a lake cottage we’re grateful to be able to use, I came inside in the middle of the day and found my swimsuit-clad teenager sitting at the dining room table doing her devotions. What struck me most about the scene was that in the foreground was a pile of my husband’s devotional books and his own Bible.
My girls grew up seeing their dad read the Word and avail himself of tools to help him dig into it. They got used to me saying to them at the dinner table, “Listen to what I learned at women’s Bible study today! This is the coolest thing!” My point is not that my husband and I are candidates for Hebrews’ “Hall of Faith”—we are cracked pots, grateful to be used by the Master Potter to mold the minds and hearts of His children. But if, as parents, we want our kids to get excited about God and about what He loves, we need to get excited about God and what He loves ourselves. How can we expect our children to invest their lives in something we only ever throw a few spare pennies at?
2. Make God the center hub, not a spoke on the wheel.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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.” (Deuteronomy 6: 6-9)
I grew up in a church-going family. We prayed before meals. We went to church camp, Sunday School, and vacation Bible school. I am beyond thankful for this foundation of faith, and I’m so grateful to my parents for giving it to me. But looking back, I can see that God was more a spoke on the wheel of life than He was the hub.
Bringing kids up in the knowledge and reverence of God is a 24/7 opportunity to demonstrate that faith is strongest when it is not compartmentalized but overarching—the fabric of life rather than just a fringe element. Following the Deuteronomy 6 model, pray with your kids when you’re sitting down to meals but also when you’ve just gotten bad news about someone or when you’re in the car and see an ambulance go by.
3. Introduce them to the body.
Our children need to be introduced to how the bride of Christ—the local church—can radiantly encourage, pray for, guide, and model truth about life with God for our kids.
You might tell your son or daughter something about faith or God or the Bible a dozen times and get nothing more than “uh-huh,” only to have them hear it from a Sunday School teacher or youth group leader and come home talking about it like they’ve just had their own burning-bush moment.
