“Children cannot live according to God’s ways
if they do not know God’s Words.”
Doctrine
Doctrine is simply a word to describe what the Bible teaches.
Paul challenges young Timothy to “watch your life and your
doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16). Every child needs to under-
stand the core doctrines of the Christian faith to grow into a
man or woman with convictions to follow God.
The two most critical doctrines for children to learn
center on the Word of God and the Son of God. It is a mark
of successful education to teach children the inerrancy,
authority, and sufficiency of the Bible. Great schools train
children to embrace the supremacy, exclusivity, deity, and
Lordship of Jesus Christ.
In addition, we must repeatedly, with greater depth as
children age, teach topics such as: creation to counter evolu-
tion, God’s design for marriage between one man and one
woman to counter homosexuality, the reality of heaven and
hell to counter the claim that death is the end of all existence,
the atoning work of Jesus to counter the claim that all reli-
gions lead to the same God, the Trinity, and the character of
God, to name a few.
4. Give your child a Bible
When my mother was dying of ALS, she asked me what I
wanted of her possessions to remember her by. My mom
had expensive jewelry, money, and things with worldly value,
but the thing I wanted most was her Bible. My mom’s Bible
is the physical expression of the greatest gift she ever gave
me: a love for God’s Word. Her Bible is tattered and torn. Its
pages are yellow and marked up. It was well used and well
loved. I want you to give this same gift to your children.
Purchase a high-quality leather Bible and personalize it
for each child. Choose a full text, readable version that a
child can use as they grow older. A good age to give this to a
child is during their middle elementary years, between ages
8 and 10.
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Plan a special ceremony or meal around this event. Before
giving the Bible to your child, underline or highlight passag-
es you want to emphasize. Make notations in the margins,
and write short notes of encouragement and affirmation.
May your gift help your child love God’s Word and echo the
Psalmist, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter
than honey” (Ps 119:103).
5. Teach children how to study the Bible
During the early years of a child’s life, the parent is the one
to feed the child spiritually. But gradually, this responsibility
should be shifted to the child. For this to happen, parents
must teach their child how to read the Bible. Children
should be taught basic Bible study methods which include
observation, interpretation, and application. This is known
as inductive Bible study.
Observation: “What does this passage say?”
Observation is taking a close look at what is going on in
the passage of Scripture. Correct observations are key to
understanding the meaning of the text. We need to read the
Bible thoroughly, slowly, and prayerfully to understand what
God is saying.
Interpretation: “What does this mean?”
Interpretation is trying to understand the intent of the
author. Interpretation is affected by the culture in which the
author wrote, the biases we bring to the text, and the context
in which the passage is found. We cannot understand a verse
without understanding a chapter. We cannot understand a
chapter without understanding the entire book. We should
teach children to interpret Scripture with Scripture and to
consult resources such as commentaries to best understand
a passage.
Application: “What does this passage require of me?”
We come to the Bible for transformation, not simply infor-
mation. God’s Word has the authority to tell us how to live.