Parenting Points
Today’s Christian family is constantly bombarded with messages from our culture about who we should be and what should matter to us. We are told that our family should live in this neighborhood and do these activities. Our kids are told that they should look and act a certain way to be accepted. The cultural narrative rings from our radios and TVs and is modeled constantly by the social media on our phones.
In a world where the cultural narrative stands in such contrast to what God calls us to as followers of Jesus, grounding ourselves and our families in the Word becomes a vital task. As Moses gathered the people of God together to give them the law of God for the second time, he set before the people a picture of what saturating our families in the Word could look like:
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV What does it look like for a family to be saturated with God’s Word?
Saturating Your Family with God’s Word Begins with You. Before Moses gets to the family as a whole, he begins by addressing the parents. For true spiritual transformation to begin in a home, it must begin with you. Your kids are watching how you handle the Word and what you truly value. Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to transform your heart first?
Saturating Your Family with God’s Word Continues with Life Conversation. Throughout the passage, we see the daily life of one of the family’s in Moses’ audience. They are doing things not unlike what we would do with our family in a typical day: talking, sitting, walking, going to sleep, and waking up. In the middle of the everyday activities of life, are you looking for moments to have conversations about God’s Word? Is faith a natural conversation in the everyday life of your family?
Saturating Your Family with God’s Word Persists with Keeping the Word Before Your Family. Moses ends with a picture of putting the Word physically before your family. This is an extremely practical idea. Does your home display the truths of God’s Word to combat the cultural narrative?
Let us be families who saturate ourselves in God’s Word and live counter-cultural lives for His glory.
-Ben Birdsong
Writer, Speaker, and Minister
