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Family Devotion, Simple Ways To Share Christ With Children
by Chanda Stegall
As Christian parents, one of the most important duties that we have is to teach our children about the Lord. This is an awesome responsibility. It can also seem like an overwhelming responsibility. But Praise God - our Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom has built four teachable moments into our day that can help us to share His word with our children in bite-sized, manageable chunks.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon 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.” Here are some ideas of ways to teach your children about the Lord during these teachable moments: When you sit at home: This refers to meal time. Meal time is an excellent opportunity to connect with your children. During mealtime, you may discover your child is dealing with a playground bully. Or maybe you want to readdress a toy sharing incident from earlier in the day. You can use meal time to relay how God would have us respond in these situations. Oh - and don’t forget to give thanks for the food the Lord has provided! When you walk along the road: Well, we seldom walk along the road anymore — so a modern day example would be when we ride in our cars. You can listen to Christian music and encourage your children to sing along. Make sure you explain the meaning of the songs to your children so that the songs can become eternal treasures for them. And, how about taking an "ole fashion" walk - you can point out God's wonderful creations all around us.
When you lie down: As your children unwind at the end of the day, you can read them passages from a Children’s Bible and discuss the meaning and moral of the story. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a “lesson” but just a consistent story time. End the evening in prayer. Pray aloud with and for your children and allow them to pray as well. When you get up: Before rushing into the chaotic morning routine - take a few moments to pray together as a family and ask God to lead, guide and direct everyone throughout the day. You may find that spending this early morning time with the Lord will make the morning routine a little less hectic! Prayerfully, with these tips, you will find it easier to fulfill the commandment of Deuteronomy 6:6-7. God provided these teachable moments for a reason - use them wisely.
About The Author: Visit http://www.teachkidsthebible.com for Bible activities, crafts, songs, stories and more. Stop by today and join our newsletter to receive Bible Lessons and Family Devotion tips delivered directly to your inbox.
These articles on lifestyle and more
Return to the selection of family devotion
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://www.amazon.com/Competing-Devotions-Career-Family-Executives/dp/0674018168
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?iddoi:10.1086/422066
http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/18/6/798.pdf
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
As Christian parents, one of the most important duties that we have is to teach our children about the Lord. This is an awesome responsibility. It can also seem like an overwhelming responsibility. But Praise God - our Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom has built four teachable moments into our day that can help us to share His word with our children in bite-sized, manageable chunks.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon 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.” Here are some ideas of ways to teach your children about the Lord during these teachable moments: When you sit at home: This refers to meal time. Meal time is an excellent opportunity to connect with your children. During mealtime, you may discover your child is dealing with a playground bully. Or maybe you want to readdress a toy sharing incident from earlier in the day. You can use meal time to relay how God would have us respond in these situations. Oh - and don’t forget to give thanks for the food the Lord has provided! When you walk along the road: Well, we seldom walk along the road anymore — so a modern day example would be when we ride in our cars. You can listen to Christian music and encourage your children to sing along. Make sure you explain the meaning of the songs to your children so that the songs can become eternal treasures for them. And, how about taking an "ole fashion" walk - you can point out God's wonderful creations all around us.
When you lie down: As your children unwind at the end of the day, you can read them passages from a Children’s Bible and discuss the meaning and moral of the story. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a “lesson” but just a consistent story time. End the evening in prayer. Pray aloud with and for your children and allow them to pray as well. When you get up: Before rushing into the chaotic morning routine - take a few moments to pray together as a family and ask God to lead, guide and direct everyone throughout the day. You may find that spending this early morning time with the Lord will make the morning routine a little less hectic! Prayerfully, with these tips, you will find it easier to fulfill the commandment of Deuteronomy 6:6-7. God provided these teachable moments for a reason - use them wisely.
About The Author: Visit http://www.teachkidsthebible.com for Bible activities, crafts, songs, stories and more. Stop by today and join our newsletter to receive Bible Lessons and Family Devotion tips delivered directly to your inbox.
These articles on lifestyle and more
Reprint this article free of charge as long as you keep the author's resource box or bio intact and the links active. A copy of the ezine or URL of the page where the article was reprinted emailed to the author would be very much appreciated. family devotion
Return to the selection of family devotion
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://www.amazon.com/Competing-Devotions-Career-Family-Executives/dp/0674018168
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?iddoi:10.1086/422066
http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/18/6/798.pdf
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
