Teaching your children the bible is good, but applying it to their life can be hard. This is especially true as they get older. This is one area that hit home this weekend. So, how do we do this? God clearly tells us in Deuteronomy how to teach our children the bible in a manner that should enable them to apply it also. Talking to them is key!

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

TALKING IS KEY

We have always done bible studies with our children, and in many different ways. Some times we wrote them, and other times we let them take turns writing and leading. We have also done bible studies through movies, media and games. As an example, when we would watch tv we would ask questions on why the characters shouldn’t do something, or why that was good to do and so on. This had worked really well for us when they were growing up. But as our children have gotten older we slowed down on talking about the bible so they could put what they learned into practice. We thought that sounded good, but was it?

In theory that was a good idea, but no where in scripture, especially in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 does it say to do this. Is does however, stress the importance of talking about scripture. The exact opposite of what we did. Talking is key!

“and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6

DON’T STOP TALKING

This weekend I realized that I have slowed way down on teaching my children the bible, about God, His word, and how our choices should revolve around His Law. Unfortunately, we are not perfect and neither are our children. Because of this, we CAN NOT STOP TALKING to them about applying scripture to their life.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT

Our conversation touched on a lot things, but the most important topic was this one simple truth.
We can not live our life based solely on the examples of other people, even Christians, because NO ONE is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. We need to use the BIBLE as our life example, because that is the ONLY perfect thing in this world.

RESOURCES:

I encourage you to regularly teach, talk, and apply scripture to life WITH your children. If you need resources to get you started check out our blog post Teach Your Children About God, and our free bible studies.

References:
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.