A New Series On Teaching Family Devotions

Our children, those gifts bestowed upon us with a responsibility clause in our God-given contract, fall under a special disclaimer. It reads, “It is not the intention nor the responsibility of the Creator to raise your children for you. If you asked for them, they are yours to feed, clothe, teach and groom for the future. If you did not ask for them, they are still yours to feed, clothe, teach and groom for the future. Happy parenting.”

God doesn’t leave us high and dry. Our children do actually come with an instruction manual, contrary to what a lot of people say. It’s called the Bible and we’re commanded to share it with our children.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be exploring how to conduct family devotions with our children. This is the one area that many, if not most, Christian parents stumble over, and I think with good reason. Some may think a family devotion is complicated and time-consuming, something along the lines of a mini Sunday school lesson at home. Others may have been led to believe that they’re not qualified to do it, that it’s better left to the “experts”. Still others may have no clue where to even start.

This series of teachings will help you get on the right track. Some of the things we’ll be looking at are:

• The three reasons we should spend time reading the Bible with our children;
• Recognizing the excuses we make and overcoming them;
• How to find the time to do it;
• How to get our child to sit still long enough to conduct family devotions;
• How to find your way around the Bible with whatever age group you’re teaching;
• Ideas for making it interesting;
• Suggestions for resources and where to find them;
• Encouragement and provocative questions along the way.

I’ll share personal anecdotes of things we’ve done, some which have worked, others, well, not so much. We’ll also learn how others have done it as well. If you’d like to share how you and your family have conducted (or tried to conduct) family devotions or would like to comment or share a concern, please feel free to leave a comment by clicking on the link for it at the bottom of the post, or email me through my profile page. I’d also appreciate it if you would share my page with other Christian parents. I know it would bless those seeking a closer walk with the Lord with their children.