How do we inspire a love for the Bible in our children, while dealing with its dark side? The people, events, and stories reflects topics we might not be ready to talk to our kids about.
We read a Children’s Bible to our kids as well as allowing them to listen the NIV Audio Bible Dramatized CD
Granted, after this, he had some very interesting questions for us out of Genesis. Do we need to protect our kids from the reality the Bible shows us? I mean there are certain questions I would rather not answer.
I would rather have my kids learn about the dark side of life from the Bible, than the playground.
We were recently in a church service that was a family Sunday. The pastor called the children up front to talk about Moses. He clearly shared about Moses having killed a man, but quickly moved on to the great man he became. He made no mention of this killing being wrong.
The Bible, especially the Old Testament, assumes an understanding of the Law, which states certain things are right and wrong. Israel knew “thou shall not kill”, but young children can be confused. Sometimes the Bible is a record of what happened, not what should have happened. We must help our children understand and filter this.
We need to fill in the gaps for our children. Sunday school or church does not relieve us our parenting responsibilities.
As a father, it brings joy to my heart to see my kids loving the Bible. I mean, Ehud stabbing King Eglon and the fat surrounding the dagger is pretty cool! It is a bit harsh, but no more so than the average Saturday morning cartoon. We just read about Jael “tent-pegging” the head of Sisera! Whoa!
Too young to hear some of this? Well, I won’t be reading my kids Song of Solomon anytime soon. But the Bible does speak of real life.
We had a co-worker killed a few years back in a freak accident. He used to play with our kids. His death forced us to walk our boys through a loss and talk about the reality of heaven.
Why wait for tragedy to seize that opportunity? The Bible gives us that chance everyday.
Don’t protect your children from the Bible, let it guide your children and expose them to all of life. We are there to steer them through the hard questions. Its called parenting. We steward them as both a gift and a privilege.
What do you do to help your children love the Bible and guide them through its presentation of the reality of life?