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 they can have a relationship with God and others. This age group child is becoming more social and therefore it is important to help your children to understand how to develop a healthy relationship with others and God.
At this age we need to help our children understand that having a relationship with God is not just something we do as adults but a choice they can make as children. Remember when we talk about having a relationship with God with a child of this age, they still do not have abstract thought so instead of talking about inviting Jesus into their hearts (which can be a scary concept) talk about the fact that God wants to be their forever friend. You may need to explain that God is the kind of friend that always looks after us and always wants to talk to us and be with us. Nothing we can say or do will ever make God not want to be our friend. (This is important because children can be cruel as friends where friendship can change from day to day or even from hour to hour).
As parents we need to be intentional in spending time with God as a family, however we need to remember that if we are too rigid and there is no fun our children will not experience God and spending time with God as a positive experience. This age child can only really concentrate for about 5 minutes, so keep these interactions brief.
It is important to bring the reality of God and our relationship with Him into our everyday lives and activities. When you praise your child for doing something right or well, remind them that God values that too.
When they are facing tough situations like bullying read them stories from the Bible where young people overcame these situations with God’s help.
Take time to pray with your child. Encourage them to pray for themselves about the things that have happened in the day.
What concepts can you teach this age group?
1. God is a loving father who wants to look after you.
2. God has feelings just like you, so He can understand you.
3. God is super special because He can be everywhere, do everything and knows everything.
a. This one is great if your child loves super hero’s you can talk about God being the only real super hero.
4. Jesus is God (this can be a tough one for them to understand)
5. The Bible is a big story that tells us about God and the kind of person He wants us to be
6. God loved you so much that he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for you.
7. You can have a forever friendship with God.
8. God wants to be your forever friend
9. You can talk to God
a. Here we can teach the basic concepts of prayer in teaching that we can say thank you to God, we can tell God how wonderful He is, we can say sorry to God, we can ask Him to help us and those around us.
10. God has a plan for you
11. God wants you to only put good things into your heart
a. This is extremely important today with children being exposed to more and more tv and video. This can help young children learn to discern what they should watch, listen to and be involved in.
12. We can say sorry to God and He will forgive us.
13. God wants us to spend time with other Christians
14. God wants us to share and help others
15. God wants us to take care of everything He has given us.
The one thing we need to remember with all of this is that we are still a living representation of God to our children and so they will live what they see in us, before they live what we tell them to do.
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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. Tel 012 661 3300