A neighbor recently reached out asking how I share the gospel with my children. Sharing the Gospel with kids is not complicated at all. Simple steps of incorporating your faith each day will teach so much.
We, as parents, are the first example of our faith being lived out. The kids see how we act and react. They see whether we gossip or uplift. Our actions will directly show them our values. So, we have to live wisely as a first step.
To start teaching children about Jesus, the Bible, and the gospel, in my family, we start with praying together before bed. After that, I insert praying before meals. Then, we start daily devotionals.
<<Teach children to pray with these printable cards that teach children to say grace before meals.>>>
Since I was not homeschooling for my childrens’ entire school career, I did not start everything right away. If I had it to do all over again, I would start all of this from the moment baby is getting into a routine at home.
This is my list of resources and tips. I have used all of these to teach my children to have a Biblical focus, knowledge, servant-minded focus, and ultimately to raise them in faith.
We are all a work-in-progress over here. This is the process I have used and am using for sharing the gospel with kids.
Devotions for Sharing the Gospel with Kids
Learning to Pray
From the first moment I was putting my baby to sleep at home, I prayed a short prayer for them out loud. I start by using “Now I lay me…” to teach the same prayer every night. Every night after the final feeding, I would pray this prayer with my baby.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
I think prayer memorization is helpful for beginning to teach children to pray. It provides them words to use when they may not know what they want to say. It helps when they are too young to speak.
They hear the words of a prayer. When we repeat it daily, those words are remembered.
As a child, I grew up saying a family prayer every night. All of us would gather in one room, kneel, and pray together. We would alternate between my room and my brother’s room.
My mom, dad, brother and I said the prayer together. It is a vivid memory and I still pray at night before bed. It is routine and intentional.
We said the “Now I lay me” prayer when we were young and then the Lord’s Prayer every night when we were older.
That routine taught me that prayer was essential to the day. Having those words to pray meant when I had no words, I could still pray.
When the children are a little older, we started encouraging them to pray before meals. In order to help the fear factor of being called up to pray, I created prayer cards for saying grace.
Teaching kids to say grace and pray are key elements in our home. They help teach the gospel to kids.
>>>You can access the printable prayer cards by becoming an email subscriber. There is no charge. Go ahead and subscribe for all access to all the free gifts.<<<
Indescribable Book
Prior to homeschooling, our time together as a family was limited to evenings. After making the shift to homeschooling, we gained more time during the days together as a family.
I wanted to start our homeschool learning off with a daily devotion.
There are many options for family devotions. We have used daily cards like these (Amazon link).
Next, we read through the book Indescribable. It was perfect for the wide age range of my children.
Teaching children about the gospel starts by learning scripture and its application in the world. Indescribable does this tying in science themes.
My children were aged 5 on up to 10 at the time we read this. I read one devotional per day. It was a really simple, organized way to study the Gospel together as a family.
>>>You can read more about it or get the book through my Amazon link here.<<<
Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing Book
One library trip, I happened to find this great devotional book. I used it as an art prompt for the twins.
I read one of the poems each day. I encouraged them to draw a picture to match what they felt or thought of while listening.
Each poem tied in scripture. We could explore thoughts founded in truth and use it as art inspiration.
The poems are quick. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing is great for elementary, middle and high school kids for diving into the Bible and gospel.
>>>You can get the book through my Amazon link here.<<<
Advent Activities Post
The Christmas season is the start of learning about the Gospel. It allows us to initiate learning about Jesus with great feelings, focus and information.
Jesus’ birth connects with kids, because birthdays are their main big celebration. The feelings that Christmas prompts us to feel are relatable to kids.
This post of activities for the Advent season are a list that helps the Gospel feel more tangible to little kids. Young children are very concrete in how they perceive, learn and experience the world.
That is all linked to their developmental stage.
Tying in activities that allow those concrete experiences to grow: This deepens how children learn about the Gospel. They can explore faith in a way that makes sense for them.
Not Consumed products
I highly recommend, as the kids get to middle and high school age, doing Bible studies at home. A fantastic and helpful resource for parents sharing the gospel with children at home is Not Consumed.
View all the Bible studies and devotional resources available here.
Not Consumed is focused on family ministry and your ministry in your home. The array of Bible studies will be a huge resource for you as your children grow.
There are Bible studies for children to work through on their own. There are family studies. There are studies for you as the parent.
Dive in to their whole site of resources for teaching about faith.
Conversation Cards (Free Printable)
Conversation starters help us talk to our children about the gospel, faith and Jesus on a daily basis. These printable conversation cards put the gospel at the forefront of our family conversations.
At dinner time, pull out a card and go around the table asking every member for their answer. This is a great way to share your faith testimony with your children in a casual way too. Sharing the gospel with kids can be as easy as a dinner time conversation.
>>>Get a set of Faith-focused conversation starter cards here.<<<
Affirmation cards
Knowing other bloggers are trying to be good people and raise good humans is encouraging to me. My friend, Lauren, creator of The Military Wife and Mom blog, is doing that with her own parenting philosophy and strategy.
She and I are both military spouses and bloggers. We were actually neighbors in California for a bit! (It really is a small world.)
Her Affirmation Cards are a fantastic tool to use for encouraging the fruits of the spirit to grow in your home.
You can use these as nightly conversation starters. The cards are great for our own internal focus each day as moms!
Read more about the Affirmation Cards over here on The Military Wife and Mom blog.
Sharing the Gospel with Kids is the Parents Job
As my other blogging friend, Ginger Harrington once said, “Be the thermostat, not the thermometer.”
“Be the thermostat, not the thermometer.”
-Ginger Harrington
We parents set the temperature and the tone in our homes. It is our job, and it is a necessary one, to be the one who teaches values to our children.
Yes, the village exists for some. But, we must be sure that the village we are entrusting our children to is teaching values we want them to learn.
“We must be sure that the village we are entrusting our children to is teaching values we want them to learn.”
-Jaimi Erickson
This is not about shutting out knowledge. This is about raising our children to learn truth and live successful lives.
We as parents learn as we go too. Our children seeing our growth every day is a key to their realistic perspective of life. (AKA mental health!)
I saw a great quote recently:
“When we are growing up, we do not realize that we are watching our parents grow up too.”
Powerful!
Putting myself in my parents’ shoes, knowing what I know now after parenting for over a decade, I realize that quote is true.
My parents made some key moves in regards to parenting that set me up to learn to focus on a Gospel-led life.
Ultimately, it was my life to live. My choice to make, but the foundation was built by them.
Now, I know that I can teach and expose my children to values and beliefs that share the whole scope of humanity. When they become adults, they will live their lives.
But, I will do everything in my power to “teach them the way they should go,” and pray that they choose what is right. Sharing the Gospel with kids is where I start.
How are you sharing the Gospel with kids at home? Any ideas or activities you do on a daily basis to teach your children about faith?
Enjoy your time at home!
Sweet and thoughtful, thanks for putting this together – I can tell it was a lot of work and your heart went into it.
I appreciate that. Thanks so much!