Month: September 2024

by Jessica Nicolas, New Living Translation Reader and Mom

My love for the Word of God is something I wanted to make sure I passed on to my children, and I knew that introducing the Bible to their lives early would be key. I’m so thankful for the variety of resources available to me that helped me along the way. My boys are now older and enjoy listening to the audio Bible on their way to school. My daughter is still small, so we still share our Bible time together. Although I am not an expert, here are some tips that worked for our family throughout the years.

1. Start early. The sooner you introduce the Bible to your child, the sooner they’ll start to reap from it. It may seem that your little one is too small to understand, but the sooner the seed is planted the longer it has to grow and develop strong roots that will last a lifetime.

2. Be patient and persistent. Time in the Word with your child won’t always look textbook perfect. Kids will be kids, and there will be days where tears, tantrums, or just plain old silliness will make an appearance during your Bible time. It’s okay, roll with it and keep going. Sometimes those have been the days I have learned a lesson myself.

3. Make it fun. God created your child with their own unique loves and quirks. Embrace them! My daughter loves arts and crafts just like her mama, so I introduced her to Bible journaling as a way to help her creatively express what she gained from reading. Maybe your child is more dynamic or musically inclined. How can you incorporate the Word in a way that honors that?

4. Keep it simple. The point is not to overwhelm your child with the Bible but to help them gain a love for it as it becomes part of their daily life and walk with the Lord. In this season for us this looks like: a prayer, reading Scripture, asking questions to check understanding, and then coloring in our Bible. We use an Inspire Bible, which has beautiful illustrations that you can color in. As we color, I continue the conversation about what we read. Sometimes it even opens up the space for her to talk about something that may be on her mind.

5. Start and End with Jesus. Make sure your focus and intentions are all on Jesus. Ultimately he is the reason we want our children to grow in the Word, and we do it all for him. Whenever I feel discouraged and need some encouragement, I go back to my focus: Jesus. This Bible time is not just sweet time spent with your child but also time in Jesus’ presence. Let that be the fuel that keeps you going!

My prayer is that the Word of God shall be the guide that my children follow all their lives, and I pray this over your children too.

“Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19, NLT

Looking for a Bible to help your kids engage with God’s Word? Click here for some ideas.

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” Proverbs 22:6, NLT

This passage is so much easier said than done, but it is vital for the kids in our lives. One of the best ways to help kids get onto the “right path” is by helping them engage with God’s Word and then continuing to encourage them as they grow so that it becomes a natural part of their lives, a daily habit.

This, too, is easier said than done thanks to busy schedules, lots of distractions, school work, etc. We have some Bibles that we think will help kids (and teens!) not only read the Bible but also enjoy spending time in God’s Word. Here are a few ideas:

Elementary Age

Go Bible is full of amazing stories about the people and situations God used to change the world! The Go Bible makes it fun and easy for kids to understand the fascinating accounts of God’s heart-changing power in his overarching story. In the Go Bible, you’ll find the complete NLT text in a kid-friendly format that makes it easy for kids to read and understand. Most importantly, kids will realize how the truth of these stories impacts their lives today.

Learn more

Hands-On Bible is a full-color, kid-centered Bible that features the full text of the New Living Translation. It is exploding with graphics, experiments, activities, games, and so much more! You and your kids won’t just read the Bible, you’ll experience it!

Kids Text Bibles

The Kids Thinline Reference Bible is designed for the active lifestyle of kids ages 8-12. With fun cover designs and a compact size that’s easy to carry, your kids will be thrilled to take it everywhere—to school, church, or camp! It includes thousands of cross-references, a verse finder to help them find answers to questions, and kid-friendly maps!

Preteen

Inspire for Girls is designed to draw girls ages 8 and up deeper into God’s Word and to inspire creativity and connection with God. In addition to the much-loved features of Inspire, the Inspire Bible for Girls includes over 300 devotionals written by bestselling author Carolyn Larsen, plus book introductions, journaling prompts, and interesting Bible facts to enhance girls’ coloring and creative journaling journey.

Girls Life Application Study Bible and Boys Life Application Study Bible bring the truth of God’s Word into the realities and decisions kids face today. This first step into a study Bible includes hundreds of notes and features to help young Bible readers develop a lifelong foundation built on Scripture so they can not only know but also apply Scripture to their daily choices. These discipleship resources create a space for kids to draw closer to God and create healthier relationships with those around them.

Teens and Beyond

Streetlights New Testament uses creative communication to engage a visual generation. It connects readers with audio and visual content to help everyone understand the life-transforming Word of God. With book overviews, quick answers to key questions, Bible people profiles, and access to the entire Streetlights Audio Bible and video teaching content, the Streetlights New Testament is an outstanding resource for connection and discipleship.

Student Life Application Study Bible is a work of serious scholarship, exquisite design, and outstanding application. It’s filled with thousands of on-page notes and resources and goes beyond the conventional study Bible with additional study resources through the innovative Filament Bible app. Graduating beyond the ordinary presentation and limited resources of other student Bibles, the Student Life Application Study Bible is in a class of its own, with more than 27,000 on-page and in-app study notes and featuring a full-color interior design that marries historic illumination with clean modern elegance.

Also available in Spanish

Student Bible, Thinline Reference, Filament Enabled is perfect for life on-the-go with readable text, a sleek layout, and cross-references all in a slim, easy-to-carry size that is perfect for school, church, youth group, or wherever you roam. But wait, there’s more! This easy-to-read New Living Translation (NLT) comes with access to the free Filament Bible app. It transforms this beautiful Bible into a powerful study and devotional experience, offering more to expand your mind and touch your heart than you can possibly hold in your hand.

We are so thankful to God for the many ways we are able to partner with incredible men and women around the world who are working to bring Christ’s hope and peace in many places that are entrenched in suffering and fear.

Recently, we were contacted by a publishing company in Ukraine that was looking to create a bilingual Bible using a Ukrainian translation by Ivan Ohienko alongside the English New Living Translation. This translation pairing would bring hope to the people who remain in Ukraine, living in constant fear of bombings and invasions, as well as to those who have been forced to leave their homeland and relocate to English-speaking countries, such as the United States.

This Bible released earlier this year and is already drawing people into the arms of Christ. Our partner hopes to also create a Russian/NLT bilingual Bible soon. We continue to pray for peace and for brothers and sisters in Ukraine, Russia, and around the world who are affected by this horrible war.

We are excited to share their story and this update with you:

“The idea of publishing a parallel Ukrainian–English Bible had been on our minds for a long time, but since such a project is quite costly and challenging from an editorial perspective, we kept postponing it. However, with the onset of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine and the opening of the US borders for Ukrainians, we realized that people greatly needed such a Bible. We began actively searching for which English version of the Bible we could use for our project. I believe the answer came from God. God led us to where I would not have thought to search.

“While discussing publishing matters with a manager from Tyndale, I learned that they also have their own English translation of the Bible, the NLT. We read it and found that this translation is very similar to the Ukrainian translation of the Bible, and people would find it easy to read and study the Bible. So we quickly gathered the maximum number of editors and designers for layout work, and within a year, we were able to release the edition.

“It is difficult to assess the impact of this project on the spread of the Kingdom of God, but I can already see that the fruits of this work will be good. The Bible is being purchased by ordinary churchgoers (Ukrainians), and I see that many Americans who are sponsors of Ukrainians under the U4U program are buying the Bible as a gift for Ukrainians. One church even bought Bibles as gifts for the ordination of pastors. Therefore, I am immensely glad that this work has been realized and is serving people far from their homeland.”

Join us as we continue to pray for peace and that God will use this Bible to surround people with hope and comfort.

We are celebrating that Courage For Life Study Bible for Women and Courage For Life Study Bible for Men were named the best Bibles by Christian Retailers by giving you a chance to win one of four! Just click on the link below and follow the instructions to enter to win a Courage For Life Study Bible of your choice. We will notify you via email if you won.