Tips on raising my children to know who god is.

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
T

Tricia89

Guest
#1
#1
I have a 3 year old a 1 year old and a 7 week old and I wasn't raised in church or really taught about God I recently found him I was going threw a very hard time in life and I have trusted Him every since and I was just wondering about the best way I could introduce my children to Him I want them to have a close personal relationship to our savior and trust in him. Any ideas?
 
M

Missachu

Guest
#2
#2
Do what my mom did. She prayed to God and dedicated me to Him. And promised Him that she would do whatever she could to teach me all about him.
As far as the lesson goes, sing them songs and make hand movements with them. Like "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and "This Little Light of Mine" Grown up songs are okay too, it introduces them to adult concepts so when they learn the meaning of those songs they will understand what they've been singing all those years.

When teaching of the Bible, try to get a Children's story book with big and colorful pictures and read to them. And make it as interesting as possible, if you read to them in a monotone voice you might as well be reading King James to them :/ When it comes to children it's best to teach them about Jesus' teachings and his birth(especially around Christmas) and any stories having to deal with God's love.(My favorite growing up was Eli being carried to heaven by a flaming chariot, it made me cry at age 5)

Don't teach them fire and brimstone until they are around 10. Generally you want to teach them about hell around the same time you want to teach them Revelation. The story of Lucifer's fall should be the first story and then continue with stories involving Satan like Job, then Sodom and Gomorrah...At this time don't hold back on the gory details. If they have questions then sincerely answer them or less they will be completely lost.

Teens should be teachings like Psalms and Romans so they learn verses and sharpen their scripture. Just make sure you don't force them to do anything they don't want to do. This time is all about socializing so they might want to go to church just to see their friends. Anyway, that's getting too far ahead. Plant the seed when they are young and let them blossom by themselves. If you leave the rest up to God, He will prune them into the flowers He wants them to be :] Just don't forget to pray and concentrate on YOUR relationship with Him more than your kids relationship with Him. Your job is to teach.
 
M

MissCris

Guest
#3
#3
With my 2 1/2 year old son, I started reading to him from a Children's Bible when he started talking. He also has several other books, the Christmas story and the Easter story, that we read all through the year and he knows who Jesus is at this point. We started praying with him at bedtime around a year ago, and that's helped a lot.

I also have a 6 month old, and she is always near by when we're reading or praying. I could have started these things earlier with my son, really; it's never too early to just read to your kids :)
 
L

Lucy68

Senior Member
#4
Jan 21, 2011
2,538
22
0
#4
Start with biblical board books...great way to spend quality time together. Of course, at first they'll just chew on them :) but eventually the pictures will catch their attention and you can begin reading them together.

Find a bible-believing church! There are Sunday school classes that are wonderful in teaching children about Jesus. And learning with other children is fun for them (usually).

Also, listening to children's songs on tape in the car and at home are fun ways for kids to learn about Jesus and moral values.
 
A

answers

Guest
#5
#5
Tricia89 said:
I have a 3 year old a 1 year old and a 7 week old and I wasn't raised in church or really taught about God I recently found him I was going threw a very hard time in life and I have trusted Him every since and I was just wondering about the best way I could introduce my children to Him I want them to have a close personal relationship to our savior and trust in him. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Give credit to God out loud, for example you are given something tell the kids isn't god great he gave this to us.

Teach them how Jesus died for them to make mistakes and learn from them, for example when they are tiny tots and purposely do something wrong, while reprimanding teach how Jesus died so they can learn to not make that choice again and how The Holy Spirit guides them in their prevention if they listen carefully.

Show them where God is and how wonderful his works are around them, for example somebody being cured of something or the home or job you are provided.

Teach them that everything around us belongs to God and he has lent us the stuff to use and care for including them. Tell them they are gifts from God and he has a plan for them and a big purpose.

Use scriptures as knowledge, for example when something good or bad is gone through apply a scripture to the experience. If you are still learning the bible, you can google scriptures that pertain to love or ect., and use them.

Teach FORGIVENESS, for example when a child says I am sorry don't reply with it's okay instead say I forgive you and teach them the same. Show them how to let things go and give it to God and truly forgive.

Encourage them to not take their greatest pleasure in wordly things, but in acts of service. For example, instead of using their money to buy a toy for themselves, buy for a sibling, a friend, a stranger, or tith at church. Teaching them to allow others and God to care for them, not just themselves.


Opportunity is around you everywhere! I wish you the best in your journey. God will bless you for bringing three more of his children closer to him.
 
I

intercessorginger

Guest
#6
#6
Take them to church every week and let them see how you follow the Lord and obey his word. Pray together in every situation and allow them to see how you rely upon the Lord for everything. Lead them in the prayer of salvation and show them how precious they are to the Lord. If you do these things, I am sure they will become devoted followers of the Lord too.
God bless you as you raise the next generation of mighty servants of the LORD!
 
S

Sanashankar

Guest
#7
#7
They shud see u and learn..u show them and teach them how a true christian shud be...What parents teach becomes the inner voice of the children. U show them what the love of God is, u tell them the love of Jesus Christ nad everything that is abt God, from now only. Apostle Paul said that believers shud walk in sucha a way that even the non believers shud start believing in God. Why not we apply the same theory to our children. Im sure when they grow up they will thank you for showing them the rite way

God bless u
 
G

Grey

Guest
#8
#8
Let them decide for themselves, a person should choose their religion once they are of age.
 
M

Mammachickadee

Guest
#9
#9
Woooo girly... what were you thinkin? ;-) Those little guys are very close together, which can come in handy when it comes to their learning and playing. When you tell them something, just be consistent and START EARLY. The more they hear something the easier it is to understand. You can teach a 1 year old to pick up his own toys, just by turning it into a game when they first learn to grasp their blocks. I taught my daughter to keep out of the kitchen cupboards and drawers when she was still crawling. Sometimes it takes using preventative measures that teach them to give up before they even try opening the drawer. If you paint things they need to learn as fun and exciting even making their bed at 3 becomes an easy task. Encourage them to think... and feed them thoughts of the Lord. The first thing to teach them is to pray to God and say "Thank you Jesus for...". Emphasize to them that God loves them, and as they grow a little older (around 3 is where my daughter is now and I'm doing it) start talking about God sending His Son. Make it habit to ready the Bible and pray and thank God. When God is the biggest part of their life they will learn to recognize Him as a person... a loving heavenly Father.
When they do something wrong point out that they earned the consequences. Exhort them to ask Jesus to forgive them and to help them do right. They may be very little, but again it's about the repetition of ideas. Continual exposure to the fact that disobeying is a sin that only Jesus can help helps them to understand that they should not sin and that they need Jesus.
 
P

presidente

Senior Member
#10
May 29, 2013
9,166
1,797
113
#10
Tricia89 said:
I have a 3 year old a 1 year old and a 7 week old and I wasn't raised in church or really taught about God I recently found him I was going threw a very hard time in life and I have trusted Him every since and I was just wondering about the best way I could introduce my children to Him I want them to have a close personal relationship to our savior and trust in him. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
I started the kids out when they were small with little Bible story books, reading to them. My son couldn't talk , but enjoyed me reading to him when he was little. Now, if we don't go to church or I don't come home too late, we will have devotions where usually I'll a read a passage to them, or we all take turns reading. We may sing a song. I may plug the computer up to YouTube and play some song they can sing along with. I'll mix it up with the occasional Bible cartoon followed by a little commentary from me about the lesson. My wife will do the lesson. A lot of it is reading and explaining. We pray together. We've had Sunday school teachers complement us on how well our kids know the Bible.
 
G

Grey

Guest
#11
#11
Religions grow from teaching children rather than grown men and women. Why? Because grown men and women think rationally... let them make their own choice.
 
B

Bryancampbell

Guest
#12
#12
Grey said:
Religions grow from teaching children rather than grown men and women. Why? Because grown men and women think rationally... let them make their own choice.
Click to expand...
With minds that don't know God, leads minds to grow wanderous.
With minds taught foundations, will come back to built a house on it.
 
G

Grey

Guest
#13
#13
Bryancampbell said:
With minds that don't know God, leads minds to grow wanderous.
With minds taught foundations, will come back to built a house on it.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying they can't be aware of it, but don't as a parent abuse the power you have by saying this is the absolute truth. Every religion does that to survive.
 
A

answers

Guest
#14
#14
Grey said:
I'm not saying they can't be aware of it, but don't as a parent abuse the power you have by saying this is the absolute truth. Every religion does that to survive.
Click to expand...

What the mom was asking was this..."I was just wondering about the best way I could introduce my children to Him I want them to have a close personal relationship to our savior and trust in him. Any ideas?"...so, how I think everyone is trying to answer is accordingly.

I do not believe she is asking for what religion, just how she can incorporate Jesus into her three darlings upbringing.


As to my response to your above comment, did you do everything your parents introduced to you the exact way they wanted?I did not, because God gave me free will and with that comes the ability to choose.

I also, have to disagree about the part of abusing power. I think whatever is your truth should be lived. I do not think anyone should be closed minded because they have a strong opinion towards something. That is like not feeding your kids broccoli because you do not like it. It is healthy and should be included as part of your children's diet. Children are resilient and are strong, they are impressionable, but not programmed.
 
G

Grey

Guest
#15
#15
Jesus is an aspect of religion, to say that she is not introducing religion into their lives would be false. For a while I did for the most part, but what the parents believe will affect the child. Choice is important.
 
M

MissCris

Guest
#16
#16
Just because a child is taught at a very young age about Jesus Christ doesn't mean they will not have a choice to make later in their life. They might turn from the religion they are brought up in. They might decide to continue in it. They might decide they're actually an alien from outer space and catch the first available rocket ship to Mars.

I am all for letting kids make decisions as they grow up, but I am not going to let my own kids make those decisions without them being informed and educated about what they are choosing.
 
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#17
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#17
God Bless you Tricia! for wanting to lead them to the Lord
Lead them By Example....for me really I find this the hardest but things are caught not always taught.
They are watching everything you do, say, etc etc etc
serve with them
Of course take them to a great bible based church but it really is up to the parents to lead them to the Lord
 
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#18
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#18
Many many many grown men and women come into a personal relationship with God/Jesus/HS later in life

Grey said:
Religions grow from teaching children rather than grown men and women. Why? Because grown men and women think rationally... let them make their own choice.
Click to expand...
 
Nautilus

Nautilus

Senior Member
#19
Jun 29, 2012
6,488
53
48
#19
MissCris said:
Just because a child is taught at a very young age about Jesus Christ doesn't mean they will not have a choice to make later in their life. They might turn from the religion they are brought up in. They might decide to continue in it. They might decide they're actually an alien from outer space and catch the first available rocket ship to Mars.

I am all for letting kids make decisions as they grow up, but I am not going to let my own kids make those decisions without them being informed and educated about what they are choosing.
Click to expand...
so will they be properly educated about all religions? otherwise youre still kinda making the choice for them...
 
M

MissCris

Guest
#20
#20
Nautilus said:
so will they be properly educated about all religions? otherwise youre still kinda making the choice for them...
Click to expand...
To be perfectly honest, I don't know. My earlier response was not really thought out. However, this is definitely something I need to consider.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.