One of the most common questions I have ever answered as a Children’s Pastor to parents is when should I start teaching my children about God and how do I do it. The answer is relatively simple, you begin teaching your children about God even before they are born. The decision really is about how intentional you are about the process of laying down a spiritual foundation.
The key aspect of laying down a spiritual foundation for this age group is that of love. Your child needs to understand that they are loved, accepted and wanted by you and also by God. They experience God’s love for them through you. Remember that children of this age do not have abstract thought and love is a concept that is very difficult to understand, even for many adults. We as parents need to model God’s love for them in the way we care for, nurture our children and even provide discipline in the home.
As a parent from this early stage you can begin to pray with and for your children as well as let them see you praying in every day moments. This includes giving thanks to God, praising Him and asking Him to help in situations as well as confessing the things we have done wrong.
For many children having a story time at night is a wonderful way to calm them down before going to bed as well as increasing their love for reading, why not take the time to read a Bible story for them and then take 5 minutes afterwards to talk about how this story applies to their lives. There are many wonderful Bible Story books available. Remember for this age to stick to something that will take about 3 minutes to read.
What concepts can you teach this age group?
1. That God exists – Children learn this from the way you model your relationship with God.
2. That God loves you – Children learn this through the way you express your love for them, verbal and physical. A wonderful song you could use as a family is Jesus loves you. We can teach them that God loved us so much that He let Jesus die on the cross for us.
3. God wants to take care of you- teach your child about the way God has provided for your family with a home, food to eat, a family that loves each other etc.
4. God has created everything – Wherever you go with your children point out the wonder of God’s creation. It is a fun game to drive along the road and ask the children to point out what God made and what people made and then talk about how God made the people.
5. God created you – Talk about the miracle of birth with your children and marvel at their bodies especially as they learn to do new things and grow. Talk about how God created them and how we should look after His creation.
6. God gave us the Bible – Make a point of having a children’s Bible and talking about the Bible being one of the ways God teaches us important things about Him. Be sure to teach the difference between the Bible and a normal story book.
7. Jesus died for your sins so that you can be friends with God – Children are most receptive to the gospel at the age of 4 and the most likely to enter into a relationship with God at this stage, you can talk about Jesus dying on the cross for all of us because of the things we do wrong. It is important to stress at this age that God wants to be our forever friend and they may make the choice of following God through this.
8. Prayer is talking to God – Talk about prayer as a way of talking to God like when you have a friend you want to talk to them and play with them, God is the same He wants us to tell Him about what is going on. He wants to be our best friend. Before they can talk you can model prayer by praying for them and with them.
9. You need to learn about God through Church and stories – It is important for us to learn as much as we can about God so that we can be like Him. We cannot be a friend of someone or do what we ask if we do not learn about them. Encourage daily reading of the Bible by making a fun time as a family and prioritise going to Church together regularly.
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This article has been written by Hayley Walker from All That’s Kids (Pty) Ltd. Hayley is a mom of 2 beautiful children age 3&4, married to Graeme and runs a business that focuses on “Providing a safe environment for children to grow to their full potential”. All That’s Kids runs parenting courses, youth and children’s ministry training courses and has set up a youth and children’s ministry academy with the view of helping children and families to know Jesus. See www.atk.co.za or find us on facebook.