We live in a society that values “specialists”. We believe that experts, having spent the most time honing their skills in a particular field, are the people we should depend on to carry out the most important tasks. 

So when it comes to teaching children about God, we might naturally think that Sunday School teachers are the most qualified, and we should leave it to the experts. 

In our own parenting journey, however, we have discovered otherwise. 

While Sunday School teachers spend at most one hour a week with our children, we, as their mum and dad, have far more time with our kids. We began to see that ultimately, it is the family that has the greatest responsibility for teaching children about God—we are the true specialists, for God made us this way.

In our own study of Scripture, we recognised this truth when we looked at how God has put in place divine institutions to ensure that His children learn about Him and His Word.

God’s Institution of the Family

When God first gave man the job of responsible dominion, that is, to manage the world He created, He also instituted marriage, because he saw that man needed a partner to help him with this responsibility (Genesis 2:18). Together, they were to be partners in fulfilling God’s command for responsible dominion.

By God’s design, the family is the basic unit of society. It is the training ground for children. It is where they learn about the ways of God, His authority, His love, and responsibility. And the key trainers? Mum and Dad. 

Next, God gave the divine institution of family. The job that He gave to mankind was to be passed on to the family, so that future generations would also exercise responsible dominion. 

By God’s design, the family is the basic unit of society. It is the training ground for children. It is where they learn about the ways of God, His authority, His love, and responsibility. And the key trainers? Mum and Dad. 

In Deuteronomy 6:4–7, we see God’s instructions to parents:

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength.
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.”

But these instructions not only tell us what we need to do; they also reveal several important principles and patterns on how we are to impart our faith to our children and teach them about God. Let me suggest some:

1. We Share What We Know

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

It didn’t take us long to realise that if we were to teach our children about God, we ourselves had to know God and his Word first. So as a couple, we spurred each other on to learn. 

Early in our marriage, we would often buy two copies of the same book so that we could have our own two-person Bible study. 

It didn’t take us long to realise that if we were to teach our children about God, we ourselves had to know God and his Word first.

Learning together helped us to grow faster and kept us accountable. When our children came along, we gathered each evening to read the Bible together and discuss the passages. 

Over time, it became natural to talk about God and His Word every day. We shared with our children what Mum and Dad were learning, and our children began to copy how we studied Scripture.

2. We Teach by Hearing and Doing

“These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe . . . Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey . . .”
(Deuteronomy 6:1,3
)

We can learn about how God teaches us through the way He communicates with mankind. God’s chosen pattern is to “reveal then remember”. 

God chose to speak to mankind audibly during the time of Abraham, Moses, the prophets, and Jesus. For the “in-between” generations (when He was not speaking directly), He commanded parents to hear and remember all He had taught by teaching His truths to the next generation. 

God’s chosen pattern is to “reveal then remember”.

How do we know that this was what God expected of parents? 

One example can be seen in God’s instructions to the Israelites to remember their exodus from Egypt. In Exodus 12:14, 17, 24–27, He tells them to celebrate the Passover “for the generations to come”, so that their children would remember that “it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt”. 

3. We Remember God Continually

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7)

In order for the Israelites to remember their history and His truth, God told them to continually teach them to their children. 

Notice that this instruction was for the parents—God didn’t say it was the job of the priest, the Levites, or the teachers of the law. It was the parents’ job to tell their children about Him. And when and where were they supposed to do this? During the Passover celebration at home. 

The Passover was a family gathering that was to be led by the father and mother. This was therefore the pattern of education that God had set up: parents are to train their own children in God’s Word and God’s ways, and they are to do this at home.

4. We Include God in the Everyday

“Talk about [these commandments] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

The thought of God entrusting the teaching of the Word to us used to leave us nervous. But as we prayed, God reminded us that just as He was guiding our own faith journeys, He would help us guide our children in theirs. 

So we resolved to take the responsibility but trust God for the outcome. We didn’t want to look back when our kids had grown up and regret that we had not been faithful to the task that God had assigned us. And so we pressed on.

Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to talk about God during everyday life. But what does it mean to “talk about God when we sit at home or when we walk along the road”? We’ve learnt that we can turn any ordinary event into a time of learning about God by intentionally bringing Him and his Word into everyday life.

We can turn any ordinary event into a time of learning about God by intentionally bringing Him and his Word into everyday life.

For example, when our eldest son was nine years old, he had a classmate who bullied him. Every evening, our son would come home complaining that the bully had taken another one of his pencils. We discussed the issue and turned to Scripture for advice. 

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus teaches us to “love your enemies” instead of retaliating. We asked our son: What’s the most loving way there could be to deal with the bully? 

Together, we decided that the most loving thing our son could do was to get a box of pencils, wrap it up, and give it to the other boy as a gift. 

And that’s exactly what he did. The bully was so surprised by the generous gift that he never took another pencil from our son again. By turning to God’s Word for instruction and obeying Jesus, our son had turned the bully into a friend.

One Day at a Time

From that incident onwards, one of the parenting questions we have used the most is: “What does God think about this situation? What does the Bible have to say?” 

These simple questions have led us on many learning journeys that have given our children a solid foundation in the Bible and made God’s Word the final authority in all areas of life.

Our children are now young adults. By God’s grace, He has faithfully helped us as we did our best to teach our boys to journey with God through each day. 

Recently, another of our sons went through a difficult situation. Instead of reacting, he went to Scripture to see what God had to say about his situation. 

He showed us a four-page document he had written up about his problem. In it, he had reasoned with God’s Word and worked out what he felt God was guiding him to do. We discussed his thoughts and prayed with him, and he went ahead to take the hard path before him. 

One of the parenting questions we have used the most is: “What does God think about this situation? What does the Bible have to say?”

We thanked God that our son had depended on God and His Word for guidance. Through this, God had allowed us to glimpse the result of being faithful to His divine instructions through all those years of parenting. 

Our sons still have much to learn, but the fruit of many years of deliberate biblical parenting is starting to show.

It’s no wonder King Solomon said: “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother” (Proverbs 10:1).

 

Jennifer Gan and her husband Amos Kwok are Bible curriculum developers with an evangelism and discipleship ministry based in North America. God gave them a passion for building strong Bible foundations in children and youth, equipping them to interpret life through a biblical worldview. They are also involved in helping young parents disciple their children. They have three sons. Jennifer was a contributor to the book Hear Me, O God! 100 Prayers for Mums published by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
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