Category: Faith Development

Fun Ways to Use Gardening to Teach Your Kids About God

Have you ever noticed how many parables contain some element of gardening in them? Growing things is a great way to teach your children about a lot of biblical principles. You don’t even have to own land. Container gardening works well, too. All you need is a little sunlight or even artificial lighting and any sort of container that can hold soil.

The more you involve your children in the process of planning, planting and caring for your garden, the more they will understand and remember what you are trying to teach them. Start by determining where your garden will be and what plants you will grow. If you want them to learn about plants in the Bible, you can find online lists of plants mentioned in the Bible. (Note: To be really accurate, use botanical names when ordering plants and seeds. Many modern varieties may differ from those mentioned in the Bible.)

Or your family may decide to use the produce in your gardens to serve the food insecure in your area. Talk to local food banks and ask what fresh produce would be most appreciated by their clients. Vegetables like carrots, tomatoes and peppers are fairly easy to grow and are used in a variety of common recipes. They also do well in container gardens.

If your children are older, they may want to help research not only what plants are mentioned in the Bible, but also historic recipes containing those foods and which parables, proverbs and other scriptures mention plants, gardens and/or vineyards. You and your children can also discuss how the lessons you learn while gardening illustrate other scriptures that may not directly mention plants or growing things. For example, you may want to talk about what happens when a plant is denied something it needs to grow well. Then explore what they will need to grow spiritually. What would happen if they denied themselves one of those things?

The great thing about gardening is that it is a year round process. Even in winter, planning your garden and starting seeds indoors can make it easier to garden in the Spring. What kind of preparation do they need to be able to use their gifts to serve God when He wants them to use their gifts for a good work He has planned for them? Why does procrastinating about important early tasks impact the garden (and their lives) negatively?

Gardening is a great spiritual tool for teaching, application principles, mentoring, service, faith sharing and more. So grab a seed catalog, a Bible and your kids and start planning your garden!

Will Your Kids Try to Rewrite the Bible?

Growing up in Virginia, I learned a lot about Thomas Jefferson. You can say a lot of things about Jefferson, but I always thought eccentric was an apt description. Did you know that he believed the Bible would benefit from his editing? As a deist, Jefferson thought of Jesus as a great teacher, but did not believe in miracles and other parts of scripture…. so he just edited them out. The resulting “Thomas Jefferson Bible” is a thin volume that totally changes how one would view Jesus, his authority and his commands.

Many Christians, when they first hear about Jefferson’s “Bible”, probably assume he was an arrogant man to think he should even consider editing the inspired Word of God. Yet, your very own children may one day grow up to write their own version of scripture. They may not be as overt about it as Jefferson. They will even deny they are changing anything at all. Rather, they will explain that their advanced knowledge has given them a better understanding of what the scriptures they are targeting “really” mean.

While the meaning of some scriptures may very well be debated until Jesus returns, the motivation for reinterpreting many scriptures is often suspect. It is especially concerning when a verse that clearly states “do not” do something in very clear language is taken through a series of supposedly logical loops that turns it into “absolutely do” the thing that is clearly forbidden.

Even more concerning is the underlying attitude. Someone recently asked a very important question, “When we attempt to reimagine scripture, are we more concerned about becoming who God wants us to be or is the greater concern finding a way around a verse so that we have the freedom to do what we want to do with no consequences?”

I suspect, that even if your children are correct about their new interpretation of scripture, a Thomas Jefferson attitude does not please God. Teaching our kids what it really means to make God the Lord of our life can help them avoid the temptation to write their own version of the Jefferson Bible.

5 Hidden Times to Teach Your Kids About God on Busy Days

What’s the number one excuse Christian parents give for not teaching their kids about God at home? I haven’t done an official survey, but I am almost positive the answer would be lack of time. Yet some of the busiest parents I know find ways to teach their kids about God daily. They may not have extra hours in their day, but they have learned how to use some hidden time wisely and point their kids to God even on the busiest of days.

Where are these little nuggets of time you can use to teach your kids about God? Here are five of our favorites.

  • Car time. Busy days usually also mean a lot of time in the car. You could probably do an entire family devotional in one trip, but there are other ways you can use this time as well. Try doing drive by prayers with your kids when you pray for the people and things you notice on your drive. Ask them about their day and talk about the things God would want them to know about the choices they made or need to make. Play music that is based on scripture and sing along – they will memorize Bible verses easily when they are lyrics to their favorite songs.
  • Fast food time. You may not sit down at the kitchen table to a home cooked meal, but you can still have meaningful conversations at the table in a fast food restaurant or even in the car in the parking lot if you went through the drive through.
  • Required reading time. Many schools require students to read a certain number of minutes each day. They rarely assign specific books. Why not let your child read from a children’s Bible, the NIrV version of the Bible itself or one of the many Christian books written for children? Some churches still have libraries where you can borrow Christian books for free.
  • Snack time. Many children have an afternoon snack. Instead of tossing the food at them and going about your business, sit down with them. Even on the busiest of days, you can spare five minutes to have important conversations with your kids while they eat their snack.
  • Bedtime. Once children reach school age, many parents stop doing bedtime prayers with their children. Yet most still tuck their children in and have some sort of bedtime ritual. Consider praying over your child, reading a few Bible verses, telling a Bible story or reminding your children “who they are and whose they are” instead of some secular affirmation in your bedtime routine. Those five extra minutes of time spent with you and God can also help calm and soothe your kids, making it easier for them to sleep.

Be creative. If one of your children is waiting with you during the activity of another – you’ve got a nice block of time. Children too old for naps, benefit from an afternoon rest time when you can rest with them for a few minutes, talking about the things God wants them to know. Find what works best for you and your children, but find time somewhere… because even if you attend church and Bible class regularly, your children will still need to get the bulk of their spiritual education from you.

Creating a Bible Corner for Your Kids

One of the top goals of Christian parents is to help their kids develop strong spiritual discipline habits. Many families do a great job of encouraging their children to have active, independent prayer lives. Helping kids and teens develop the habit of reading the Bible daily is often more problematic. When we have trouble reading the Bible ourselves on a daily basis or even having periodic family devotionals, how can we help our kids build strong independent Bible study habits?

One of the biggest barriers to developing the spiritual discipline of spending time in scripture each day is just remembering to do it. You and your kids may have the best of intentions. Then life happens and you get distracted. Suddenly, your family looks up and realizes you haven’t even thought about reading the Bible for several days… or even weeks or months.

A great way to help your kids remember daily time in scripture is to set up a Bible corner. If you have enough room, each child may want their own. Bible corners can be in any room, but preferably one in which your child will be several times each day – even on the busiest ones.

Encourage your child to make it as cozy as possible – maybe with a favorite blanket, pillow or chair. Teens might want to add a favorite mug or glass ready for their favorite beverage. Have them place a paper Bible, notebook, pen and any study aids they need in the corner. If the corner is ready for immediate Bible study, it will be much more effective. Teach your kids that when they walk by their Bible corner, they should stop and have their Bible study time if at all possible. If they can’t at that moment, they should schedule an exact time later that day when they will use their Bible corner.

Have fun with it, but use your Bible corners to encourage more time spent in scripture each day – for you and your kids.

Creating a Spiritual Education Plan for Your Children

When we were exploring the idea of homeschooling our daughter, I did a lot of research. There are as many types of homeschoolers as there are parents. As a card carrying overachiever, I was floored by the families who had working farms, ground the flour for their home baked bread and educated children who went on to earn college degrees at young ages. Many of these families were also Christian and appeared to have children who were living their faith.

While I have yet to grind my own flour when I bake bread several times a year (versus weekly for those super homeschoolers), I did adopt a few of their secrets of success. One of them was having a plan and following the plan. Their plans weren’t necessarily rigid, but they knew without one their children would miss learning crucial material.

Over the years, I began thinking about the idea of planning. I worked with our daughter to develop a plan for all of the things she wanted to learn how to cook and all of the life skills she needed to learn before leaving for college and we slowly worked through the list over time. Why don’t we have a similar plan for the spiritual education of our children? The very rare church may have one, but most will just point to their curriculum scope and sequence. I don’t know that I have ever met a parent that developed one (although I am sure someone has).

With a degree in education, I often have master educational plans floating around my brain. I don’t know why I didn’t capture a spiritual education plan for our daughter, but thankfully with lots of time and intentionality, I believe we eventually gave her a strong faith foundation. Would we have been more thorough and effective if we had a more formal plan? I think if we weren’t too rigid, it might have helped.

So what should be in your child’s spiritual education plan? What Bible stories should they know? How will they develop spiritual disciplines like independent Bible study and prayer? What scriptures will they memorize? What godly character traits should they be mastering? How do you plan to help them identify, develop and use the gifts God gave them to serve Him? What else do you want to make sure they are actively taught about God and living the Christian life?

The spiritual education of your children is eternally important. It needs some serious time, attention and planning. If you put more effort into planning your children’s baseball or dance careers or preparing them for college than you do into their spiritual education, don’t be surprised if their faith foundation crumbles.