Teaching my children the Scriptures
As I studied and prayed about this first point in the prayer guide for our children, which comes from 2 Timothy 3:14-16, I realized that much of the key to the answer of this prayer lies with David and me, the blessed parents of the four children God has entrusted to us. I don’t know why I never considered before that all of my prayers for my children should start with a prayer for myself, their teacher.
Our children can continue in the things they have learned because they can trust those who taught them…
We must not only teach our children the scriptures, but it is imperative that we live it out before them. 2 Timothy 3 tells us that the character of the teacher plays a critical role in their continuing in what they have learned. We must be trustworthy, authentic teachers of God’s Word. So much damage has been done by those who use God’s Word as their own tools to coerce or control. God forbid! God’s Word is able to make our children wise unto salvation through faith, but we are able to drive them away from that truth by our actions. Therefore the very first things all of us as parents must do is to make sure that we are living holy lives before Christ Jesus and others, that we know the scriptures and are bathing ourselves in them day by day, and that we are allowing ourselves to be molded and shaped into the image of God even when that means humbling ourselves before our children and others to admit that we are wrong.
I am grieved every day by the carnage I see. There are so many who have veered off course because people they trusted used God’s Word, not as a tool of discipleship, but as a means of control. God never intended that to be so! We are to be controlled by the Spirit of God Himself. Our lives and the lives of our children will display what is in our hearts, and if we as parents are not filling our hearts with truth and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, how will we ever teach our children those things? Oh, moms and dads, please show your children that you authentically love Jesus Christ and present His love and His truths to them every day, so that they too may grow to know and love Him wholly.
What Teaching The Scriptures Should Look Like
I always knew I was blessed to grow up the way I did. I never realized, however, just how blessed. You see, although my parents are not perfect, they sure did a lot of things very well. Now that I am an adult raising my own children and seeing the results of other approaches to parenting, I see very clearly how God used my mom and dad to positively shape the lives of my sister and me. They instilled in us a sincere love for God and His Word, not merely a list of dos and don’ts. There were several times when we would have open discussions about what God’s Word says about a given issue, whether it was a standard held by someone or a culturally contentious point of faith. They taught us to search GOD’S WORD, not go to man for the answers we sought. They taught us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, to base our convictions on His Word alone, and to desire to serve Him regardless of the cost. As parents, we should do everything we can to instill that same love in our children.
God’s Word is able to make our children wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus…
Praise the Lord that the entire weight of the salvation of our children does not rest on our shoulders, though. God’s Word is alive and powerful enough to make our children wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We need to help our children see God’s Word as it truly is– the wholly inspired, completely reliable, cover-to-cover Word of God! 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that every word of the scriptures is God-Breathed, therefore we can trust His Word and His promises without reservation.
What are you and your family doing to instill a knowledge of and a love for God’s Word in your children? We would all benefit from hearing your ideas in the comments section at the bottom of the page!
Father, we pray that our children will learn the scriptures that are able to make them wise unto salvation while they are young. May we as parents never give them cause to turn away from Your love by the way we present You and Your Word. May we never misuse Your precious and Holy Word for our own devices, but may we be authentic, trustworthy teachers of the greatest good news ever given to mankind. Amen.
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