Dear Friend,
One of the perks of homeschooling was that it allowed us to be very intentional with discipling our kids. I could build Bible study into our school day, and I never had to bribe my kids to read books about God – I just assigned them! I loved how homeschooling afforded me the opportunity to systematize their discipleship. While I was intentional about pouncing on teachable moments as we went through our days, I could also count on all sorts of interesting conversations happening through our homeschool work.
But sometimes I forgot about the crucial ‘X factor’ of discipleship. Sometimes I forgot that some things are caught not taught.
While I could teach my boys the Word of God, I could not teach them to love it.
A love for God’s Word is often caught not taught.
While I could teach my boys about trusting God, I could not make them do it.
A posture of trust is often caught not taught.
While I could teach my boys about loving their neighbor, I could not give them a servant’s heart. An attitude of selflessness is often caught not taught.
Unfortunately, other things are contagious too. The viruses of perfectionism, anxiety, and people pleasing can be caught by our kids. Selfishness and anger can be catchy too. And fear? Yes, fear is quite contagious.
Sadly, I often undermined my intentional discipleship with an example of what not to do.
I basically told my kids to cover their mouth when they coughed and then sneezed all over them. Sheesh.
How about you? Have you ever thought about what your kids are catching from you?
Let me be clear – you do not need to be perfect in order to properly disciple your kids. I’m not suggesting that you portray some fake sugar-coated godliness to your kids for fear of them catching your anxiety or anger. I’m suggesting that you and I model for them a real deal pursuit of holiness.
We don’t need to be perfect, but can we admit when we fail?
We don’t need to never lose our temper, but can we confess it as sin when we do?
We don’t need to be Bible scholars, but do they see us reading our Bibles?
My kids are going to catch all sorts of things from me. They will likely catch a love for chocolate, a fear of spiders, and an appreciation for a good comic strip. But I hope they will also catch a desire for pleasing God and a commitment to growth. God’s not done with me yet and I want my kids to have front row seats to my transformation.
I want my pursuit of holiness to be contagious.
In it with you,
Laura
I can wrap my head around the challenges of teaching your kids this important Bible stuff, but what is a DVD? 😜
Oh golly, Elle, you've got one smart cookie processing her theology! Most little kids Bibles don't make it past the book of Acts, so I don't have a recommendation for her age group. Regardless, I'm not sure if they would tackle the concept of Romans 6:1 and "grace abuse" anyway. Keep doing what you're doing, little mama, and trust God with the results! One day you will reap what you are sowing!
When it comes to the practical application of living out our faith for young kids, I so appreciated resources like Veggie Tales and Max Lucado's Hermie and Wormie books and DVDs. My boys ate that stuff up and it led to good conversations with them. There are newer…
Why is it every week I read your post and I think, "how did she know I had that thought this week?" Very relatable Laura which is something I think I need to work on.
Speaking of teaching kids, we systamise reading the the Jesus Story Book Bible to our kids every night before bed. It does a great job of illustrating and telling the story from creation to Jesus assension. We just started our third time through this year. But a conversation this week with Leah made me think we need the next level of kid Bible.
Here is what happened:
Leah (age 4) rips Jude's sticker
Jude (age 2) screams
Mom, "Is ripping Jude's sticker kind and loving…