Ep. 108 || How Do I Disciple My Children?
Discipleship can be an intimidating task, but it isn’t out of reach for the everyday mom. It’s living out the gospel in front of our kids, teaching and inviting them to follow Jesus with us. In this episode, Emily and Laura dive into how we disciple our kids, asking, “What is it? How do we do it? And why does it seem so difficult?” We get to faithfully teach our kids to love God and share their faith by showing them how we do it. We won’t disciple them perfectly, but we can trust the Holy Spirit to equip us for the task and change our children’s hearts.
Articles, Resources and Related Content:
R|M Resources:
“Five Ways My Mom Invested the Gospel In Me” - Jaquelle Crowe
“Raising Treasure Hunters” - Stephanie Grayum
“Where Are We Going? Leading Your Family with a Gospel-Centered Vision” - Shelly Wildman
“Gospel Hope When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough” - Christina Kposowa
“Helping Children See Christ in Scripture” - Nana Dolce
“Helping Our Kids to Celebrate God’s Beautiful Diverse Creation” - Trillia Newbell
“Passing Along Our Heritage: Teaching the Gospel in All of Life” - Autumn Kern
“What Should I Teach My Children About the Bible?” - Emily Jensen
“Ten Opportunities to Talk to Your Child About God in Everyday Life” - Laura Wifler
Around the Web:
“Four Marks of Discipleship” - Trevin Wax
“Mom as Unsung Disciple-Maker” - Sam Bierig
“Leading Your Kids Beyond ‘Praying the Prayer’” - Mike Phay
“How to Raise an Alien Child” - Jen Wilkin
“What is a Disciple?” - JT English
“Teaching Children Theological Vocabulary” - Emily Jensen
R|M Apply Questions:
Discipleship happens from the overflow of your love for God over the course of your child’s lifetime. In today’s episode, we shared four practical principles for discipleship. We need to look at our own relationship with God, invest in our local community of believers, live out the gospel in front of our kids, and be intentional in discipling them. While we’ll never do these things perfectly, we can be faithful as we trust God to work in us and our kids through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How you love God will be very clear to your children. They’ll notice you reading your Bible, praying for wisdom, serving in your community, and living joyfully. How can you further invest in your own relationship with God? What is one specific area of your life you want to grow in, and how can you intentionally pursue God in this area (ex. Prayer, Bible study, serving)?
While we shoulder the responsibility of training our children in godly living, our children should learn from other faithful Christians in our local community. Who in your life is an example of living faithfully to God’s word and sharing the gospel with others? Is there a way your child can learn from this person?
If we live out the gospel in front of our children, they will have repeated opportunities to see how it connects to every part of life. By pulling our children into the things we’re already learning and doing, discipleship is less like a series of formal lessons and more like a natural overflow. What are some activities that you’re already doing that you could include your children in? What are some new activities you can start doing as a family?
Discipleship should be a natural thing, but it will require intentionality. When we look to Jesus as our example, we see that he gave commentary to further explain things to his disciples, he lovingly rebuked them, and he looked for ways to reconcile what they saw around them with what he taught them. We can do this for our kids through family discipleship time, discipline, serving others, and more. How can you be more intentional this week in connecting the gospel to your children’s lives?
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