photo by D'Arcy Norman
After reading a passage from different translations, helping your child understand the context, and delving deeper with meaningful questions, you’re ready to complete the study with Interpretation and Application.
Interpretation
Help your child draw conclusions about what he’s just read. Children are very literal, concrete thinkers. If you’ve taken several days to conduct this study, reading the passage each time so your child has come to know it well, then let him work on the literal meaning of the passage. Ask some well placed questions to jar his thinking.
What did the text mean? What lesson did the writer want the reader to learn? If you’re not quite sure yourself, don’t be afraid to consult your pastor, a trusted teacher or a commentary for additional insight.
Remember to keep things in context. It’s very easy, and has been done for centuries, to take a single verse and build a philosophy around it. Keep the passage in context with what’s happening in both the preceding and subsequent chapters and what has been written by other authors in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t contradict itself. Unless the Scripture indicates otherwise, interpret what you read literally.
Application
Finally, how can your child apply this lesson personally to his life? This is where the proverbial rubber meets the road, but may also be difficult for your child to figure out for himself. This requires some abstract thinking, a skill most children don’t develop until they’re older.
Gently guide his thinking, helping him see potential relevance in school , play, work and the relationships he has in his life, including those with church family and God. A particular passage may have more than one truth that can be applied. For the younger child, I would choose just one to focus on. For the older child who is capable of more complex thinking, you may try to pull out as many applications as is appropriate.
For the scene where Jesus is overturning the moneychangers’ tables, you may ask if there’s a difference between the anger your child displays toward a sibling who takes something of his and the anger Jesus displayed. Or, you can discuss the relevance of taking a relationship with God too lightly. A broader perspective with an older child might include the dangers of a church which seeks worldly solutions to its operation.
This one aspect of inductive study has the potential for generating the most discussion. Feel free to stretch the conversation out for as long as the topic holds interest. Share from your own personal experience of how applying, or not applying, the truth affected you or a situation. Find multiple instances in your child’s life where the Scriptural lesson can be applied.
Conducting an inductive Bible study with your child can make family devotions richer with meaning. Add this approach as another tool to your chest of devotion ideas.
Related Articles:
More Teaching Tips For Getting Kids To Listen
Inspiring Families: Watching Christ Work Through Our Child
Interpretation
Help your child draw conclusions about what he’s just read. Children are very literal, concrete thinkers. If you’ve taken several days to conduct this study, reading the passage each time so your child has come to know it well, then let him work on the literal meaning of the passage. Ask some well placed questions to jar his thinking.
What did the text mean? What lesson did the writer want the reader to learn? If you’re not quite sure yourself, don’t be afraid to consult your pastor, a trusted teacher or a commentary for additional insight.
Remember to keep things in context. It’s very easy, and has been done for centuries, to take a single verse and build a philosophy around it. Keep the passage in context with what’s happening in both the preceding and subsequent chapters and what has been written by other authors in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t contradict itself. Unless the Scripture indicates otherwise, interpret what you read literally.
Application
Finally, how can your child apply this lesson personally to his life? This is where the proverbial rubber meets the road, but may also be difficult for your child to figure out for himself. This requires some abstract thinking, a skill most children don’t develop until they’re older.
Gently guide his thinking, helping him see potential relevance in school , play, work and the relationships he has in his life, including those with church family and God. A particular passage may have more than one truth that can be applied. For the younger child, I would choose just one to focus on. For the older child who is capable of more complex thinking, you may try to pull out as many applications as is appropriate.
For the scene where Jesus is overturning the moneychangers’ tables, you may ask if there’s a difference between the anger your child displays toward a sibling who takes something of his and the anger Jesus displayed. Or, you can discuss the relevance of taking a relationship with God too lightly. A broader perspective with an older child might include the dangers of a church which seeks worldly solutions to its operation.
This one aspect of inductive study has the potential for generating the most discussion. Feel free to stretch the conversation out for as long as the topic holds interest. Share from your own personal experience of how applying, or not applying, the truth affected you or a situation. Find multiple instances in your child’s life where the Scriptural lesson can be applied.
Conducting an inductive Bible study with your child can make family devotions richer with meaning. Add this approach as another tool to your chest of devotion ideas.
Related Articles:
More Teaching Tips For Getting Kids To Listen
Inspiring Families: Watching Christ Work Through Our Child
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