What to Teach a Child: Love for God and Others

As parents we have the most important responsibility of teaching our children how to be, how to live life according to God's principles. That may seem daunting, and some days it is, but fortunately we don't have to navigate the course of parenthood alone. The Bible provides direction and examples for us to follow. So, where do we begin? What's the most important principle to teach a child?

In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus is questioned by a lawyer of the Pharisees regarding the greatest commandments. Jesus' response was one that would have (and still does) made me squirm - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus didn't tell the folks listening anything they hadn't heard their entire lives; he just "simplified" things for them. He directed them back to their own religious training and upbringing and told them that all other laws "...hang on these two commandments (Matt. 22:40)."

God gave parents direction on these two commandments in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. His admonition is one for all of us as parents and fully devoted followers of Christ to take to heart and put into practice. To break it down into steps, here's what as parents we must do to ensure that our children have in their hearts God's principles:

• We are to have these two commandments in our hearts (Deut. 6:6).
• We are to teach them diligently (with constant effort, attention, persistence) to our children (Deut. 6:7).
• We are to talk with our children about them at home, when we're out and about, playing, running errands, the first thing in the morning and before going to bed at night (Deut. 6:7).
• We are to surround ourselves and our children with "reminders" of the greatest commandments (Deut. 6:8-9).

God's intention is for us to live before our children absolute, total love for Him and love for others. Just as our children learn to be like us by watching us, they also learn to be like their Heavenly Father in the same way.

Our children are learning in Adventure Kidz that love is choosing to give someone your time and friendship no matter what and that when you love God you'll love others.

As we learn to love the Lord with all our being, we will find ourselves loving others. We will teach our children by telling them stories of how God has shown His love to us and how He has helped us love others. He will give us wisdom to direct our children in learning to love Him completely and loving others.

Lord, your Word promises that if we keep your commandments, if we plant them deep in our hearts and live them because we love You with our entire being, that You will bless our lives and provide for all our needs.

You also know that loving You so completely and loving others isn't always easy for us. Just as we are patient with our own children as they learn and grow, You are patient with us. You provide us with what we need to keep your commandments, though, and I am so thankful that You are our strength and that your Holy Spirit is ever present to guide us.

Please give us wisdom to teach our children to love You and to love others. Thank you, Father.

Links to Resources for Parents:

Parenting - What Were We Thinking!

Lately I've reconsidered my long-standing view of parenting - that we'd all be better parents if our children came with users' manuals. Like most of us, what I knew of parenting I'd learned from my parents - good and not so good.

But then I realized that our children do come with users' manuals. If we look carefully at the Word of God, we find all the direction we need to be the parents our children need. The greatest example of what a parent should be is reflected in the way in which our Heavenly Father parents us.

I taught high school English for over 20 years, and one of the poems I loved to teach was one written by Harlem Renaissance preacher/poet James Weldon Johnson, entitled "The Creation." This poem is full of powerful, human images of God the Creator. He steps out and commands light, the universe, oceans, vegetation, animals, and birds and delights in all of them. But for me, the most moving image is one of God still finding that He feels alone. The poet has Him sitting on the side of a hill with head in hands thinking when suddenly He has an idea: "I'll make me a man!"

Understand, I was not your typical classroom teacher. When I got to this point in my rendition of the poem, I was a bit animated! But the most beautiful and touching image of Johnson's portrait of the creation is this:

"...This great God,

Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in is his own image;

Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen."

Even as I write this, I am overwhelmed at this picture of tenderness, of intensity, of God - our Father - being lost in the act of creating a being in His image and then giving it life. This is a picture of a Father who seeks relationship with his children, a nurturing, loving parent.

For me, this moment, the point of our creation and birth, is where we begin Parenting by the Book.

I wish I could claim to have had this all figured out when I was in the thick of raising my two daughters, but I didn't. Now that I'm a grandmother (It's worth having children just to eventually become a grandparent), I am reflecting on what I can do with my granddaughter that I didn't do particularly well as a parent. I'm praying that as we take this journey through the Book, that I will learn to be like my Father.

This blog is dedicated to parents (and grandparents or anyone else who wants to influence the lives of children). Our desire is not to come off as having all the answers but to seek the Bible for direction that will enable us to provide our children a rock solid foundation that will last them for all eternity.

Our goals are to provide you with resources that you can use to support what your children are learning as Adventure Kidz and possibly to supply some answers from seasoned parents. But most importantly we want to seek God's word for His direction in how to become parents who will lead their children to a life-long relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, thank you for unconditional love, for your grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Thank you for creating us and seeking to be in relationship with us. Thank you for your tenderness toward us.

Please provide us direction through your Word and through the leadership of your Holy Spirit as we seek to be the parents you desire us to be.

Protect our children, guard their hearts, and place deep within them the desire to know you and to become who you have created them to be.

Give us wisdom, patience, and love to be for our children an example of you, their Heavenly Father.

In Your name we pray, Amen.