As Christian parents, we are commanded to train our children up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). But what does that look like? As a new parent, I had no idea. But the Lord, in His gracious providence, brought many wise Christian women into my life to show me. They gave me practical ideas, direction, and a vision for how I could walk this Christian parenting thing out in real life. I’m forever grateful. So, now it’s my turn to pass on these tools and ideas to you. May they be fruitful for your family!
Disclaimer: My husband and I make NO claims to do this parenting thing perfectly. But we do try do it with diligence for the glory of God.
1. Make Sure Your Child Grows Up in a Bible-Believing Church
It might sound crazy, but some churches simply aren’t good, Bible-believing churches. They are off track. Make sure your family is in a GOOD one! Get your hands on a copy of Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. It’s a very short book (you can read it in about an hour) that lays out the 9 ways to identify a healthy church. He’ll explain what to look for in terms of verse-by-verse preaching, an accurate understanding of spiritual conversion, and how to recognize healthy church leadership.
Don’t fall into the trap of picking a church because of their style of music or the size of the youth group. Those aren’t Biblical measures. You want your family surrounded by Biblically-focused, maturing Christians.
Also, find a church that welcomes children into their worship service rather than sending them out to “children’s church”. In the words of Pastor John Piper, “You cannot calculate the cumulative effect of 650 worship services spent with Mom and Dad — between the ages of four and seventeen — in authentic communion with God and his people.” (source) In short, your children NEED to see their parents worshiping and studying God’s word week after week.
When you take your kids to big church with you, it can help set the tone if you have them “take notes” during the sermon. Here are some printable notes sheets for older kids, and here are some notes sheets for pre-schoolers.
2. Help Your Child Memorize a TON of Scripture
We are told to hide the word of God in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). The goal is to pack in God’s truth while your kids are still in your home. Our family has LOVED memorizing scripture with Seeds Family Worship for about 10 years now. We own many of their CDs, but their music is also available for FREE on YouTube!
We love Seeds Family Worship because it is word-for-word scripture set to great music (not the annoying music sometimes geared towards kids!). We listen to Seeds most anytime we are in the car. My kids also enjoy playing the CDs in their rooms at night when falling asleep. Over the years, my kids have memorized over 100 Bible verse just by listening to Seeds. It is SUCH a great resource.
Tip: While we love them all, our favorite albums are Seeds of Courage and Armor of God.
3. Memorize Chunks of Scripture Too
While Seeds Family Worship songs typically teach 1-2 verses alone, there is also great value in memorizing entire chapters or chunks of Scripture. That may sound impossible, but it’s really not! With some great songs and tools, it just sort of happens!
In my family, at about age 3 or 4, kids always start with Psalm 100 using this song and Psalm 23 using these picture memory tools. We’ve also learned Genesis 1 using this song, and Exodus 17 using this song.
4. Make Sure They Know and Can Articulate the Gospel
We hear people talk about “the Gospel”, but so many people (even people who call themselves Christians) don’t know exactly what we mean by the that term. They may have some fuzzy idea that it has something to do with Jesus dying on the cross, but they can’t explain it much further than that. We have to make sure our children have a solid understanding of the Gospel. They need to know WHAT it is and WHY they need it.
I created these Know the Gospel cards just for that purpose. It’s a simple, 4-flashcard method of making sure they know the Gospel. My kids will tell you, I often holler out in the car, “What’s the Gospel?” And they tell me each of the 4 parts. While we parents can’t change their hearts or give them salvation, we CAN make sure they have heard and learned the Gospel. And then we can pray and trust that the Holy Spirit will grow the seeds of truth we’ve planted into true, saving faith.
5. Read the Bible with Your Kids
Children’s picture Bibles are great, but reading through the actual Bible (in its entirety) with your kids is such a good goal. Now, how exactly are you going to do that? When I went searching for a simple, kid-friendly, read-through-the-Bible plan, I couldn’t find one…So I made one! It’s extremely simple. Just mark off each chapter of the Bible after you’ve read it…but it works! It keeps us on track and moving towards our goal. In our house, we often have a dance party after we finish another book of the Bible!
You can read more about this Bible reading resource here and even download and print it out.
6. Catechize Your Children
This one takes more work, but the payoff is… WOW! I didn’t grow up in a church that used catechisms, so this was a new concept to me. To put it simply, catechism is simply memorizing a series of about 145 questions and answers that encapsulate the essential teachings of the the Bible.
Why would you want your kids to memorize all of that? Because it holds the most important truths of our faith! Overtime, they will unpack these truths more fully. These truths come up over and over again in sermons, in Bible readings, and even in family discussions. When you already have these truths hidden in your heart, it makes complex theological conversations possible from a very early age.
There are different catechisms available, but our family uses the Westminster Children’s Catechism (1840 version). You can read more about catechisms here and even print out a free version! My family likes to purchase these little catechism booklets.
7. Put Scripture around Your Home
The Bible tells us that we should write the words of scripture on the doorposts of our homes (Deuteronomy 6:9). We should make it evident to our children and all those that enter our home what we value and what we believe. I love keeping an eye out for beautiful scripture signs, and I also love changing out our big chalkboard with different verse. You can find some ideas and inspiration for using a verse board in your home here.
8. Set Biblical Expectations for Behavior
Every Christian home needs to set the tone that God describes in scripture. One where children obey their parents quickly and joyfully (Ephesians 6:1). One where being a peacemaker is valued (Romans 12:18). One where everyone works to control anger (Proverbs 19:11) and exercise self-control (1 Corinthians 9:27). That’s why If/Then Behavior Charts are SUCH a great way to outline and teach the expectations for your home from a Biblical foundation.
And when the inevitable behavior issues arise, parents are equipped with a plan for addressing them from a Biblical point of view. If you’ve never thought about incorporating an If/Then chart into your home, you can read more about it here.
9. Use Holidays as Teaching Tools
Everyone loves a holiday like Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day or even birthdays. But have you ever though about how the traditions of your home can be one more way to point your kids towards Christ? From the decorations you chose to the traditions you follow…it can all be used to glorify the Lord. To give you some ideas to brainstorm, I’ve written about how my family chooses to celebrate each of these holidays.
- Click here for Christmas ideas
- Click here for Easter ideas
- Click here for Valentine’s Day ideas
- Click here for birthday ideas
10. Pray for your Kids
This one may sound obvious, but I want to encourage you to get specific in your prayers for your kids. I have 4 children, and so each child comes up on my prayer list one day a week. Mondays I pray for child #1, Tuesday I pray for child #2, and so on. I pray first and foremost for the Lord to change their hearts and give them salvation. I also pray that the Lord will give them good friends, I pray for their future spouses, I pray for their physical and mental health, and I pray for protection from harm and evil. There are countless things you could pray for your children, but the main thing is that you stay very intentional about it! I find that having an index card for each child with the things I want to pray keeps me on track when I’m praying.
Bonus Tools
We love these flashcards and this song to memorize the names of the 12 disciples.
We love this poster for learning the Fruits of the Spirit and this song makes it fun!
Final Thoughts
My prayer is the the Holy Spirit will use this collection of ideas that I’ve gathered from other faithful moms to inspire you. Raising our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) is our greatest calling as parents. The only way we can hope to fulfill this calling is with diligence and faithfulness. Don’t grow weary in doing good!
