Spiritual Disciplines for Your Kids – Bible Study

We are taking a little time each week to look at the various spiritual disciplines historically practiced by many Christians. Teaching your kids how to practice them and helping them create habits of spiritual discipline can make it easier for them to grow spiritually and become active, productive, spiritually healthy Christians as adults. Since many of the disciplines seem more suitable for adults, we are looking at ways to make them kid friendly.

This week, our spiritual discipline is Bible study. Looking at various lists of spiritual disciplines, as well as what Jesus and his apostles did, I believe Bible study actually incorporates three practices crucial for spiritual growth and health.

The first is literally studying the Bible. Your kids need to know everything God wanted them to know, which one can assume is the entire Bible. Even if they attend every Bible class and listen to every sermon your church offers, most will only be exposed to about 20% of the Bible. Which means they are totally unaware of the other 80% and what God wanted them to learn from it. They will be trying to live a Christian life without all of the information God wanted them to have. No wonder so many of us struggle.

We have lots of previous posts you can search for on our blog about helping your kids become independent Bible readers. A few important things to remember. Get them an NIrV version for easier reading and comprehension. Start them off with practical books like Proverbs or James or story heavy books like the Gospels, Acts, Esther, Ruth, Judges, etc. Talk about what they are reading to make sure they are understanding it. Finally, make Bible study time a family time. Connect it to a regular habit like eating a meal or bedtime. You can all hang out together while you read independently or study a passage together.

An important spiritual discipline that has nearly disappeared is scripture memory. When Jesus was a boy, young children memorized the first five books of the Bible in school. Even in my childhood, we were memorizing as many as fourteen verses in a passage at a time in third grade. Your kids will balk at memory work, but it’s important. Why? They need important scriptures firmly planted in their long term memories. That is only possible through regular review. It’s why longer passages are better than short verses – they have to practice more to get them right. This is one area where I think periodic rewards for memorizing long passages may help. Make it a family challenge for even more fun!

The other historic spiritual discipline connected to Bible study is reflection or meditation on scripture. This isn’t the mindless repetition of syllables you may associate with meditation. Rather it is thinking more deeply about a verse or two for a period of time. What does God want us to learn from it? How can it be lived out in day to day life? What might happen if we lived it consistently? What often happens when we don’t?

The best way to get your kids started on this is to have a verse of the day you share in the morning. Proverbs is full of practical verses that are good reflection verses. Read them the verse. Have them repeat it in their own words. Ask them to think about it during the day and be prepared to discuss their thoughts that evening. You may want to print a copy of the verse they can slip in their pocket and refer to throughout the day. Using this practice can improve not only Bible reading comprehension, but deeper thinking about what God wants us to learn from scripture. Your discussions can also emphasize the importance of obedience and encourage them to live out God’s words in their lives.

Bible study is a complex area, but a crucial building block in faith development. It has to happen in the home, because no matter how wonderful your church is…they can’t cover everything. Don’t leave your kids with crucial gaps in their Bible knowledge and understanding. Add this spiritual discipline to your lives.

Published by

Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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