Depending on how you grew up, you may or may not feel like you have a good foundation of Bible learning. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home, and I likely took for granted all the Bible knowledge that I gained as a child. It was just part of my daily life.
Once my husband and I had children, we didn’t want to just assume that our girls would absorb our knowledge of the Bible. At one point, we came up with a list of things that we wanted to make sure our daughters knew about the Bible.
Below is a list of ten ways that you can help your child learn more about the Bible. Approach each one in an age-appropriate way. You can dig a lot deeper into these with a 12-year-old than you can with a 6-year-old!
If you already have a designated Bible study time with your family, you could use one of these ideas for that time. If not, analyze your schedule to see where you could add in a few minutes regularly to teach your child some of these Bible basics.
And don’t be afraid to make it fun! You can use memory games, sword drills, and cute songs to help everyone remember what you’re learning.
Here’s our list.
1. Memorize the books of the Old Testament and New Testament in order.
This makes it easy to quickly find the Bible verses and passages that you want to look up. This is a good skill to practice by having a sword drill. I loved those as a kid! Or say the name of a book and see who can tell you the one that comes before and/or after.
2. Discuss and memorize the Ten Commandments.
Delving into the Old Testament law helps us know what God’s standard of holiness is. We can use the Ten Commandments to show our children that, on our own, none of us could ever have kept the law. Therefore, we needed Jesus Christ to come and live a perfect life, then die for us and rise again so that we could have salvation.
3. Learn the three points of the gospel from I Corinthians 15:3-4.
This passage lays out the gospel so simply and clearly. Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day.
4. Study the three points of evangelism from Matthew 28:18-20.
Discuss evangelism, baptism, and discipleship. Once we’re saved, these are all a part of our lives.
5. Talk through the storylines of the major events in the Bible, i.e. Creation, the Flood, Moses and the Exodus, etc.
You can do this straight from the Bible or use a Bible storybook. It’s also helpful to memorize in which book of the Bible these major events occurred.
6. Consider the three persons of the Triune God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This is a concept that we’ll never fully understand here on earth, but it’s a foundational truth to our faith. See what illustrations you can find to help demonstrate how we have one God in three persons. (I’ve seen an apple – one piece of fruit with skin/flesh/seeds. Or also an egg, with shell, white, and yolk.)
7. Examine and memorize salvation verses such as the Romans Road and John 3:16.
If you aren’t familiar with the Romans Road, here’s a link to those particular verses along with an explanation of how each fits into the gospel story.
8. For one month (or more) read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with the date and choose a couple of verses to analyze and apply.
We can start early exposing our children to wisdom! So much of Proverbs is practical applications that our children can use no matter what their age. Use a reliable commentary if you’re unsure what a verse means.
9. Walk through the lives of men and women in the Bible.
Read and dissect the lives of Bible characters. Talk about the decisions they made and how those decisions did (or didn’t) work for them. Apply those lessons to current circumstances if you can. Get familiar with major players and minor ones like the lesser-known prophets.
10. Make a timeline of the life of Jesus.
Walk through the gospels and make a timeline of Jesus’ life. With older children, you can just write it out on large sheets of paper. For younger children, you could find pictures to represent the various miracles and other events of Jesus’ life. Use online or other resources to help if you’re not sure what happened when.
Even if our children attend church and are familiar with most of these Bible basics, we want to reinforce those ideas at home. Helping our children become grounded in God’s Word is an important part of their spiritual training.
How do you teach your children about the Bible? I’d enjoy hearing your ideas including any resources you’ve used that are helpful.
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