6 Ways to Help Grandchildren Live According to God’s Word – #1, #2, #3

2 Timothy 3:14, 16

Bible-centered living is supremely important in the life of our grandchildren. Parents and grandparents have the responsibility to teach children to love the Bible and live according to God’s Word. Most grandparents teach grandchildren to ride a bike, play baseball or bake, yet few grandparents train grandchildren to daily read and meditate on God’s Word.

As a pastor, I encounter large numbers of Christians who have never been taught how to have a quiet time and do not read the Bible. As a result, biblical illiteracy is high, moral relativism is common, and doctrinal confusion is widespread. Children cannot live according to God’s ways if they do not know God’s words.

God tells us to “daily meditate” on his word (Psalm 1:2) as well as “hide God’s word in our heart” (Psalm 119:11). These commands apply to adults and children. If you want to significantly influence the faith of children, then make it a priority to teach them to study and memorize the Bible. It is a lasting legacy to train a child to develop the spiritual habit of Scripture reading. Here are six ways to make that happen.

1. Develop the Habit of Reading the Bible

Your first priority is to spend time daily reading God’s Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 states, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.” God’s progression in this passage is important. God’s Word is to be on your heart and then it can be taught to children.

Empty vessels have nothing to give. You cannot pass on to grandchildren what you do not have. You will not pass on a passion for Scripture if you do not treasure it yourself. You cannot train grandchildren to develop the skills to study God’s Word if you have not cultivated it in your own life. Spending time daily in God’s Word needs to be your highest priority.

The joyful experience of reading God’s Word is where great grandparenting begins. Open God’s Word and be blessed by truth and beauty, get captured by its depths and heights, and be captivated by the glorious God in its pages.

2. Practice Family Worship

Family worship is the means of introducing young people to the truths of Scripture and preparing children for the Christian life. The practice consists of reading Scripture as a family, prayer, and praise to God, often through music. God has given grandparents an important role as a spiritual leader in a grandchild’s life and they are to share in the biblical instruction of children (Dueteronomy 4:9; Psalm 78:4-8).

Consider a few practical thoughts:

• Read the Bible, not someone’s thoughts about the Bible. Devotionals are helpful, but the primary source should be the Bible. My wife and I often read Psalms and Proverbs to our children. We choose passages based on what we are strategically teaching them. Proverbs is the one book of the Bible written to young people, and it should receive heavy emphasis in your home or classroom.
• Read the entire Bible to grandchildren. The pattern of Scripture is to teach children the deep truths of Scripture. Children were not excused when difficult topics were covered in the Colossian or Ephesian church. Children were present to be told to obey parents; and therefore, were taught everything contained in these two books.
• Read briefly. Remember, they are children. The younger a child is, the shorter their attention span will be. Don’t expect your child to study the Bible like an adult. Try to keep your family reading concise and to the point, but meaningful. Ten minutes is a good amount of time with which to begin. A great resource is The Long Story Short by Marty Machowski.

Your goal is to explain the Bible passage clearly and biblically, engage children in the process, and help them apply God’s truth to life.

3. Teach Grandchildren Core Doctrines of Christianity

Young people are unlikely to remain faithful to a faith they do not understand and cannot defend. Grandparents, in partnership with parents, should teach children of all ages the core doctrines of the Christian faith with a zeal and consistency that follows the pattern of the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:15 we read of Timothy, “From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writing, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” Psalm 71:17 says, “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.”

The pattern of Scripture is for children of all ages to be taught the core truths of the Bible, so they will be firmly rooted in Christ and established in their faith (Col 2:7). The Bible clearly states what will happen to children when they are not well grounded in God’s Word. Here are three examples:

1. Children are taken captive by man’s ideas and deceived by human traditions (Col 2:8).
2. Children become rebellious and live a godless, unfaithful life (Ps 78:8).
3. Children grow up not knowing God or His great works (Judg 2:10).

The following topics should be taught to grandchildren of all ages:

The Gospel

The gospel is the good news, because it addresses our most serious problem. The gospel summarized: we have rebelled against a holy God who created us. God acted in Jesus to save us, and we take hold of that salvation by repentance of sin through faith in Jesus. Concerning the gospel, you should have a threefold aim for your grandchildren: (1) they clearly understand it, (2) they are able to concisely explain it, and (3) confidently proclaim it.

Big Picture of the Bible

The Bible is not a random collection of people or events. It is a unified whole with one main storyline pointing to, revolving around, and fulfilled in Jesus. There are four major parts of the Bible: creation (Genesis 1-2), fall (Genesis 3), salvation (Genesis 4 – Revelation 20), and re-creation (Revelation 21-22). As you read through the Old Testament, help children to see how it points to Jesus and His covenant of salvation. Jesus Himself did this, “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).

The primary aim of the Bible is to glorify God and this happens in salvation and judgment found on every page of the Bible. Read and reread the histories of the Bible to your grandchildren with this in mind. Familiarize them with the main accounts, people, and events of the Bible, but not in a way which detaches them from the overall storyline of Scripture. We should call our grandchildren to obedience to Jesus Christ and can use the heroes of the faith as models to imitate, but let our teaching not dissolve into moralistic instruction separated from the gospel of Jesus or the glory of God.

Doctrine

Doctrine is simply a word to describe what the Bible teaches. Paul challenges young Timothy to “watch your life and your doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16). Every grandchild needs to understand the core doctrines of the Christian faith to grow into a man or woman with convictions to follow God.

The two most critical doctrines for grandchildren to learn center on the Word of God and the Son of God. It is a mark of successful grandparenting to teach children the inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of the Bible. Great grandparents train their grandchildren to embrace the supremacy, exclusivity, deity, and Lordship of Jesus Christ.

In addition, we must repeatedly, with greater depth as grandchildren age, teach topics such as: creation to counter evolution, God’s design for marriage between one man and one woman to counter homosexuality, the reality of heaven and hell to counter the claim that death is the end of all existence, the atoning work of Jesus to counter the claim that all religions lead to the same God, the Trinity, and the character of God, to name a few.

Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation. He served as a pastor for nearly 20 years, has a PhD in Family Ministry, serves on the board of Awana, and is the author or editor of ten books on parenting and grandparenting including Biblical Grandparenting, Preparing Children for Marriage, Biblical Worldview, and his latest 50 Things Every Child Needs to Know Before Leaving Home. He is married to Jen, they have five children, and live on a family farm in Minnesota. Josh blogs at GospelShapedFamily.com, enjoys camping with friends, reading a great book around the bonfire, and catching big fish in Minnesota lakes.

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