There is no denying that babies are truly a miracle! When each of my children were infants, I marveled at their little lives. They were miraculously formed within me! While I felt the change and certainly was tried from all of it, I didn’t intentionally tell my body to form the ears today or the endocrine system tomorrow. God, in His infinite wisdom, did all of that for us. Psalm 139 says He “created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
This precious little soul within me brought a weight of responsibility to me like I never felt before. Seeing that infant in my arms, gave me a sense of the great spiritual task before me. Spiritually speaking I knew that I had to begin the discipleship of this Creation of God from the womb. Here are just some of the ideas that we have used in the intentional discipleship of our children to “let the little children come to Me” as Jesus said.
1. Read and Sing Scripture to your child before he/she is born.
You create sweet memories together with your spouse as you disciple your children spiritually before you can even hold them. I remember singing “Jesus Loves Me” and feeling the kicks from our little soccer players. This is a simple way that dads can be involved in the spiritual lives of their children before they are born. Whether you are pregnant or have a two-year-old or one who is older than that… Start now! The foundational principles of the Word of God and who God is are learned even at this young age. Read Psalms to your baby. Sing praise and worship songs. Tell him or her the verses you are currently reading. Pray with your baby, resting your hands on your belly and saying the words aloud.
2. Use sentences and phrases to teach your child the Bible.
Children of this ages are exploding with new words all the time! It is an exciting time as they learn new words and identify items as you drive by in the car or walk along the street. To incorporate the Bible in this new word growth, start saying small sentences that the children can remember. Ask them to fill in the blanks with the missing word or two. For example, you could say, “Jesus loves…” and your child would respond with “ME” or his/her name. You could add to this by having them lift their hands into the air when they say “ME” or “JOSIAH”! Other sentences could be:
- “The Bible is ….GOD’S WORD”
- “I will …. OBEY!”
- “God made…. ME!”
- “I love… JESUS!”
- “God is….GOOD!”
These words and phrases will not only impress Grandma and made great videos, but you are also laying the foundation of good spiritual understanding.
3. Practice caring for their Bible.
We desire for our children to love God’s Word. When they are young, we give them a children’s Bible board book. We teach them to take good care of it because it isn’t just any book, it is the Word of God. We teach them to carry it carefully, turn the pages slowly, and put it back where it belongs each time it is read. Some of my little ones caught on at an early age that the Bible was extra special and began to kiss the Bible each time they saw it! Encourage them to take their Bible to church and open it when the Bible is read.
4. Read their Bible to them regularly.
In a time in their lives when they are learning words and sentence formation, use the Bible to teach them. Use a children’s Bible with bright, colorful pages. While each page might not have much content to them, that is just fine. You are building the routine of reading the Bible, learning vocabulary and spending the time together. Use the Bible as a springboard for additional conversation as you look at the details in the pictures and talk about what you see and read. As they grow, you can get other Bible books that will grow with their developing minds and curiosities.
5. Teach your child to pray, even though they are only 0-2 years old.
While your 8-month-old may not be able to pray in sentences, we can teach these small ones to be reverent in prayer times whether that is at mealtimes or at bedtime. This may look different for every family. Ideas that have worked well for us are to all bow heads and close eyes during prayer, fold hands together, or hold hands together as a family to form a circle. All of these ideas help to limit the distractions that we face during prayer times as a family.
It is important for your children, even though they are young, to realize that when we pray, we are talking with God. He deserves our attention and our respect. We are not silly when we come to the prayer time, but we come with reverence to our God. Our young children at this age also loved ending the prayer for us by shouting, “AMEN!” Involve them as much as you can!
6. Sing songs together that use Scripture.
Sing songs together that have Bible verses or simple truths from the Bible. Songs like Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Oh How I Love Jesus, and The B-I-B-L-E have been favorites at our house. It is a special thing to see and hear your 14-month-old singing the truths of the Scriptures as they play with blocks on the carpet! There is no better thing than for them to learn these truths early and have them develop a mind that loves the Lord and His Word.
Creating a playlist of songs to play around the house or in the van. This can be a great way to incorporate more Scripture and Biblical truths into our daily routines. Our children also loved Steve Green’s Hide ‘Em in Your Heart Songs which can be found online. While these songs are perfect for your growing children, they are also brilliant reminders for mom and dad!
7. Role-play obedience as a way to disciple your child ages 0-2.
Children need to obey right away. This is a perfect age to begin teaching your children that obedience is not an option. God gave you as the parent the responsibility to train your children. Many have neglected this and desired for children to be their friends rather than their child. We desire, though, as Biblically Minded Families for our children to know that we are the parent and have them obey us “right away and with a happy heart.” We even memorize Ephesians 6:1 very early on. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”
When they are this age, we begin by making games out of everyday tasks. We praise them when they obey immediately. Once they can toddle, we instruct them to come here or pick up a certain toy. We praise them for happily obeying us. We might say, “Thank you for coming to mommy right away. It is important that you always listen to me and obey what we ask you to. This also makes God happy.”
Now, does your child who is less than two actually understand all that you are saying? No. They don’t completely understand. But you are laying the groundwork of obedience that will be pivotal in the next stage of their development. If your child isn’t obeying you at this age, when will they start to learn it? Practice obedience today. Make it a game. It is foundational to the rest of child-rearing.
We desire for our children to be a blessing… not only to us but to others. But this isn’t the goal of many families that I meet. I regularly interact with church families who don’t discipline their children. These children are easy to spot. These children are not a blessing. The children are entitled, disobedient, and argumentative even at two or three years old. When I ask them to line up during Sunday School, they will throw themselves on the floor and scream. This is defiant disobedience. This is not the kind of children that you want to raise in your Christian home. Being a parent means you will teach obedience early so your children will be a blessing to you and others.
Using these ideas for discipleship, you will be laying the foundation of a Biblically-Minded Family. It isn’t an easy task. Discipling children even at ages 0-2 is vital to their growth and holiness. Don’t delay. Start discipleship today!
To find out more about becoming a Biblically Minded Family, click here.
There are more tips for discipling children ages 0-2 here. You can look at our other tips for discipling all of your children here!
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