How important is the influence parents have on raising their children? Have we asked ourselves that question? The answer is: it is very important. The influence of parents may work for good, favoring personal growth, or it may wound and leave children with pain and setbacks. Educating your child is not easy.
So important is the education children receive at home that it shapes much of their happiness and growth in life.
The importance of educating your child
The first school a person has is his or her own home, where he or she receives teachings from parents on moral, emotional, physical, and spiritual matters. We have seen homes in which children have little contact with their parents and where their education is not a priority, or where it is left entirely to the school. It becomes “someone else’s problem.”
The problem we cannot always see (the “iceberg effect”) is that children can go without the guidance they need when parents are absent from their education. Nowadays, children are also shaped by many outside voices, such as schools, the media, and friends or classmates, and not all of these voices share our values. This is why parents must take up their educational responsibility. When the time comes to go to school, children should arrive having already received a foundation of love, values, and faith at home.
What the Bible says about educating your child
In Deuteronomy 6:4-7, the foundation of the educational process is established by the imperative “Hear”: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (NIV).
These verses show us a vital function we must fulfill if we want to help a new generation to know God. The people of Israel call this portion of the teachings the Shema. In the Shema, the Lord established a basis that was vital for the community of faith and for education.
Shema in Israel
First, the community of faith was called to establish God as the supreme priority in the life of each believer. That is why it says: the Lord is one. Since He is one, love and loyalty to God are to come first in the life of the believer. Lasting change in a person grows out of a living relationship with God, and when young people come to love God for themselves, that love tends to shape their lives from within.
Secondly, the content of Christian education is found in “these commandments that I give you today,” as in the verse we mentioned earlier. These words embrace everything God has revealed to His people.
Our children’s education should be guided by God’s Word and should emphasize it. For this reason, many Christian families choose a Christian school when they are able, while others, in good conscience, choose public schooling or homeschooling and give the faith teaching at home and at church. Whatever the school, the home is where the Shema is lived.
Third, the vital element in education is the teacher. The Lord’s command is that these words be on the parents’ own hearts and that they impress them on their children. Parents are the first teachers, and teachers who love God’s Word can be a great help to them.
From ancient times, the people of Israel paid close attention to the matter of education. Children were to be taught from their earliest years about God’s kindness and greatness, especially as they are shown in His commandments and in the history of Israel.
Educating your child according to God’s Word
Through songs, prayers, and lessons about God’s Word, parents taught their children. They learned about God’s commandments as an expression of His character, and as they received these principles in their hearts, God’s image could take shape in their minds and souls. Much of the teaching was passed on orally, at home, and young people also learned to read the Hebrew Scriptures.
Education at its best aims to help students learn what their teachers know. Christian education adds something more: it hopes to help students grow in the character of Jesus as the teachings of God’s Word are lived out.
Educating your child from home
If we, as parents, are dedicated to studying God’s Word and to applying it to our daily life, Jesus’ character will be reflected through us. We will be showing our children a window through which they can come to know their Savior. Children learn most from what they see us do, and from homes where they feel loved, listened to, and safely guided. Our influence can favor their personal growth, values, kindness, love, respect, and righteousness.
Thus, their faith can grow and be reflected in their good deeds. We will be giving them the foundations of a Christian teaching for eternal life in our own homes.
And if, in addition, we can take our children to a Christian school, we will complement their formation. They will have teachers who know and teach God’s Word and who are also interested in contributing to the children’s formation for eternal life. If that is not possible for your family, do not be discouraged: your example, your time, and your prayers at home matter most. And if your child is struggling emotionally or in their behavior, a counselor can be a good partner in raising them.
Dear parents who read this post,
I invite you to read and deepen God’s Word. I invite you to strengthen the basis of God’s commandments in your life and the teachings for eternal life. This way, you can have a positive influence on your children that will help them grow and glorify God. A loving home, parents who listen, and the teaching of God’s Word are among the best gifts we can give our children.
What is one small, regular moment this week when you could talk with your children about what you believe and why?
Would you like to talk with a professional? Call (407) 559-7093 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern) or find professional help here. For general questions that are not an emergency, write to drduany@zodugroup.com. Please do not send health information by email.
This article is for education only. It does not offer diagnosis or personal advice, does not replace evaluation or treatment by a health professional, and reading it or writing to us through this site does not create a therapeutic or pastoral counseling relationship. This site is not an emergency service and is not monitored continuously: do not send health information through comments or public forms. The author is a licensed psychotherapist and pastor, and is part of ZODU.
Sources
- Deuteronomy 6:4-7, New International Version (BibleGateway).
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