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.
