Put the Word before the World with Your Kids

A loud thud resounds just as I crack open my Bible. The noise startles my barely awake nerves, and hot coffee spills onto my pajama pants and splatters onto the Psalms. An exasperated harrumph sneaks out of my chest as I listen to the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps on the stairs. I may not be able to read God’s Word in silence, but this is still a holy moment in the presence of God. I pull my Bible back into my lap and read a couple of verses out loud with my half-listening children. It’s not much, but I’m teaching my kids what matters most—to put the Word before the world.

A quarrel breaks out between my two sons while I’m in the middle of browning meat for spaghetti. I go defuse the fight over who had the ninja Lego first, and the Holy Spirit reminds me: Word before world. This unkempt moment is an opportunity for the truth I know from Scripture to intersect with my calling to shepherd the hearts in front of me. This is sanctification—for both my children and my own soul. 

We are on the last leg of the bedtime marathon and I’m dreaming of the moment I can collapse onto my own bed. I turn to leave the room, when my oldest catches my hand and tells me he is scared. He takes after his mama—worrying about what-ifs when the lights are out. My body and brain are bone-weary, but my child needs truth to hug his unsettled heart. I remember, Word before world, and by God’s grace, I walk over to his bunk bed, run my fingers through his hair, and then gently scratch his arms as we talk about God’s nearness. 

The Value of Word before World

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, he used words to create life.[1] God’s Word carries unspeakable power and authority. The apostle John writes in his opening words to his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus, the Son of God who is the living Word, was also in the beginning, and he created the world with words. The Word has always come before the world. Jesus is the Word of God cloaked in flesh—the One who was, who is, and who is to come.[2] “Word before world” is how God wired creation and how we were created to live.

I started using the phrase “Word before world” when I had a four-year-old and a one-year-old and was deep in the throes of exhaustion. I desperately needed a quick, catchy reminder to recalibrate my heart and shape my attitude. In moments of stress, when I’d reach for my phone to scroll social media, “Word before world” would echo in my mind, prompting me to turn to God’s truth instead. As this principle transformed my life, I began to recognize that it was one of the most heart-shaping values I could teach my kids as well. 

Delight in God’s Word Is Caught, Not Taught

I woke up to the click of my lamp and squinted my eyes to see my oldest son standing before me, holding a cup of coffee with marshmallows in it (his idea, not mine), and my Bible. “Here, Mom, I knew you’d want to read your Bible,” he said with a grin as wide as Texas. He’s seen me open my Bible to spend time with Jesus and heard me talk about the importance of putting the Word before the world. Our kids are always paying attention to and noticing what captivates our hearts. Delight is infectious; it oozes from our souls to those around us. 

“Show, don’t tell” is a little saying used by writers that applies not only to the craft of storytelling but also to the calling we have as mothers to teach our children to delight in God’s Word. Our words only go so far with our kids, but our actions, family rhythms, and routines shape how they grow and who they become. If we want our children to love God’s Word and delight in knowing Jesus, they need to see that delight growing in us.[3] This doesn’t mean we need to have the perfect quiet time. It means that, even in our mistakes and life’s messiness, we get to share how God’s Word transforms our days. We get to demonstrate how God’s truth impacts how we think, react, and spend our time.[4] Repetitive actions speak louder than rote words. Showing our children the delight of putting the Word before the world begins in our own hearts.[5] 

Not a Set of Rules—a Way of Life

Putting the Word before the world is not a Christian checklist designed to please God; it’s a mindset that transforms how we respond to life’s challenges and interpret the world around us. If we want our kids to be armed with truth against wayward ideologies, we have to treasure the truth of God’s Word in our own hearts and teach our kids how to align what they see, hear, and feel with what God says. 

The greatest commandment in Scripture is not to read your Bible with your kids at the same time every morning or to never mess up in your parenting—it’s this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Love for God is a magnet for his grace. Rather than teaching “Word before world” as a law to abide by, Christ shows us a better way—letting his Word shape the way we live and lead us to abundant life in him.[6] 

As moms, we want what’s best for our children. We spend our days training their hearts. Though we do it imperfectly, we can have faith in God’s power to override our failures with his faithfulness and grace. As our delight in God’s Word grows, we will be transformed by it. And that delight and transformation can then spill out on our children, showing them the joy of putting the Word before the world.

[1] Genesis 1

[2] Revelation 1:8

[3] Psalm 119:97

[4] Colossians 3:1-4

[5] Deuteronomy 6:7-9; Psalm 37:4

[6] John 10:10