Winston Salem church of Christ

What are we teaching our children?  More specifically, what are we teaching our children about God?  There are many ways we should be enriching the spiritual awareness of our children. 

Most obviously, we can talk with them: “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deut. 6:7) 

Also we can find visual aids that instruct: “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” (Deut. 6:8)  One of the most effective visual aids is nature itself.  We can talk about nature’s beauty, describing God as an artist painting breathtaking sunsets; nature is an easily accessible way of fulfilling the spirit of this command. 

We can surround ourselves with daily reminders: “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:9).  Some parents have devotional sayings on magnets, or even biblical quotes matted within frames.  Family prayer time around the dinner table, where each child says a prayer is a wonderful daily reminder.  After dinner, you might even want to have Bible stories followed by quizzes.  Competition is always fun…well, usually! 

Each of these ways involves something we must provide – time. We teach our children by spending time with them, which also illustrates to them their priority within our lives.  While we are spending time with them, there are other ways to teach, more subtle, but very impressionable.  Our children learn about God by the ways we treat them, and by the ways we allow them to treat us. 

Obedience – For example, have you ever seen parents correct their children’s behavior and the children immediately behave?  What do these children learn?  Mom and Dad are in charge.  People might joke about their children being “the boss” of the house, but the way some children act, it isn’t a joke.  We’ve all seen some parents tell their children to stop misbehaving, and the child does it one more time anyway!  The child knows the boundaries, or lack of boundaries.  Some children learn they must obey the first time.  Some learn they can get away with it, maybe once, maybe twice, or just maybe….  We parents need to teach our children to obey us so that they will learn to obey God – the first time. 

Respect – And then there is the child who talks back, makes ugly faces, snidely smirking, and basically shows disrespect.  Do we allow our children to talk to us like they talk to their friends, and even those not their friends?  Or as parents do we earn and demand respect?  We’ve all seen the child who argues with their parents, and as they get older they start using derogatory language at them.  How are we talking to our children?  Do we use degrading language when correcting them?  How will these children most likely treat God as they mature?  Will they respect God? 

Grace – From a positive standpoint, do we teach our children the meaning of grace?  Must they be perfect before we approve of them?  Do they know our love is unconditional?  Do we stay angry at them long after they have expressed sorrow?  Do we give them a second chance, and maybe even a third, if they show true contrition?  Do they understand true forgiveness? 

And finally, besides the ways we treat our children, another way our children learn about God is by how they see us treating God.  Do we obey God in all things, or at least try?  Or do they see us picking and choosing which commands we want to adhere to?  Do our children see us correcting mistakes within our own lives as we mature in the faith – and admitting our faults to both God and them?  Do they see us giving God the proper respect by the way we talk to Him and about Him – and by the way we treat those who are His?  Do our little ones – and even those not so little – observe God’s grace within our lives?  Are we filled with humility and humbleness, recognizing our own dependency upon God? 

Yes, we are all teaching our children about God.  The question, what are we teaching them?

Perry D. Hall