Teach Them Tuesday: Family Bible Time

Hello, Tuesday friends! Today I’d like to share how our family Bible time has been a huge blessing in our home. I know there are plenty of families who already do this, but if you don’t and you’re already sweating at the thought, let me assure you that this does not have to be formal, deep, or complicated in any way. And let me also assure you that this is not a judgmental post to say that all families should do Bible study our way and with the same frequency as we do. We don’t do it perfectly. This is simply to share the idea and blessing of time together in the Word as a family.

When I found out I was pregnant with our first baby, I went to a bookstore and purchased three books: two pregnancy books and one children’s Bible story book. Teaching God’s Word to our little one began with that sweet Bible book (which we still have) and eventually grew into evening Bible studies with two little girls and their own big girl Bibles. With consistency, those evening Bible readings not only became the norm, but also created a sense of stability for our girls.

One evening, we’d been out late and pulled into the drive with one of our girls already sound asleep in the back seat and the other one close to it. My husband and I decided it was too late for Bible time and that we needed to just call it a night and not stir up sleepy girls. My husband carried our younger daughter into the house and slipped her into her bed which she shared with her sister. She woke a little, rubbing her squinting eyes and whispered, “Daddy, aren’t we going to read the Bible?” He explained to her that it was very late, and we’d have our Bible time the next night. What she said next is still so vivid in my mind and special in my heart.

“But Daddy. Can’t we just read oooone page?” holding up her little pointer finger. Well, Joel and I looked at each other and without even saying a word we turned on the lamp, gathered our Bibles, and sat on the girls’ bed to read.

Years later when we adopted our son, family Bible time gave him that same sense of routine and stability. Oh sure, there were some evenings early on when he acted up and tried to revolt. But eventually the consistency conveyed to him, “We’re a family, and this is what we do every night before bed.” It didn’t take him long to feel the comfort and security of gathering in God’s Word together.

But of course, the main benefit our family has seen through this practice has been growing in our knowledge and faith. We’ve been amazed at how much Bible knowledge our children have gained over the years just from this simple evening routine and how they’ve applied that knowledge to their daily lives, trusting God and building their own relationships with Him.

We have not used fancy curricula or complicated programs. We used a set of materials two times and while they were outstanding books to work through, we all agreed we liked reading straight from the Bible the best so that’s what we always went back to. We simply read one chapter each night, going around the room and dividing the verses. Everyone reads (Added bonus is the extra read aloud practice it gave our kids when they were new readers.).

Some seasons we’ve taken suggestions from the kids of a topic or a book of the Bible they’d like to study and other seasons we’ve just read straight through the Old or New Testament, which means we’ve read the whole Bible through as a family more than once! Such a great feeling of family accomplishment! We’ve memorized a lot of scripture, gotten into lengthy discussions, and stretched ourselves through difficult passages.

There is nothing legalistic or rigid here, but we do make it a priority. We read together Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings as the other nights are appointed for other family activities.

As parents, we can’t just hand the responsibility of our children’s spiritual training completely over to someone else. It’s great that our kids can have other people in their lives to add to what we’re teaching, but the main responsibility to teach them diligently has been assigned to us by God (Deut 6:7).

Joel and I have made many mistakes as parents and have plenty of regrets. But studying the Bible with our children, as imperfectly as we did it, is one of the best decisions we’ve made. We’ve bonded through God’s word and our faith, met goals, celebrated accomplishments (read about our Bible celebration dinner here), and made sweet memories. And now that our children are older, we are thoroughly enjoying the level of in-depth discussion that sometimes occurs with certain passages. We don’t even always agree, and that’s great! It gets us all thinking!

And guess what else? The pets want to join us Every. Single. Time. Is that not the funniest! They love when we’re all gathered to read and one by one, they make their way into the den to join us.

As I said before, I don’t write this today in any kind of judgmental or self-righteous spirit. Quite the opposite! I’ve actually put it off for fear it would come across that way. But I’ve been convicted that I need to share the blessing and encouragement and I pray that’s exactly what this post accomplishes.

Have a great day!