By Dr. Ron Rhodes
In Deuteronomy 6:6-9 we read about God’s instructions for spiritually educating our children. In this passage, we see just how high a priority this education is with God: “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 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.”The words “teach them” in this passage (“teach them diligently to your children”) literally means “to whet.” We are called upon to whet the appetites of our children for the things of God. We ought to seek to make the things of God palatable to our kids so their appetite for spiritual things will increase as time passes.
The words “teach them” are also in the present tense in the original biblical language. This means that the teaching is to be a perpetual, ongoing, continuous activity. In other words, it is not to be limited to just Sundays. It ought to be an every-day effort.
There is another important meaning of the words “teach them” in the original biblical languages – that is, “to sharpen.” We as Christian parents are called upon to sharpen our kid’s minds with principles from God’s Word so that their thought processes are influenced by God’s instructions. As we seek to do this day to day, our children will steadily but surely build a Christian worldview in their minds so that they will come to interpret the world around them in a Christian way.
As Christian parents, our goal should be to equip our children to interpret the culture “Christianly.” We should progressively enable them to see the world through a Christian lens. Helping them to understand Scripture in a fun, engaging way is one of the best methods for accomplishing this.
Along with this, we as Christian parents ought to seek to instill in our children solid defenses against conformity to the fallen world that is permeated with secularism. As Scripture warns, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2a).
Christian educators tell us that the child will build a worldview with the data he has in his or her mind, and if biblical and moral content is not part of the “data bank” in his or her brain, his or her view of reality will simply leave it out!
So, let’s obey God and train our children well.
Additional Christian parenting resources on teaching children Christianly are available. For a free e-course (by email) on how to raise your children Christianly, visit the Christian Parenting Center, an organization directed by Dr. Ron Rhodes.
