12 Ways to Disciple Your Kids

What’s the difference between raising children and discipling them?  
I like to think that the choice to disciple your kids is the next step.  The extra mile. It’s the thing that drives you.  It’s the lens you examine your parenting through.

Jesus spent years with his disciples.  He ate with them, camped out with them, went to temple with them and traveled with them.  But He wasn’t just their pal, He was their rabbi.  

Everything He did had purpose. Everything He did pointed them toward the Father.  But He wasn’t preachy.  He wasn’t fake. He never said “Do as I say, not as I do.”

People wanted to be around Him.

And that’s the highest aim of mama-hood.  To raise children that want to be around Him...

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When my first was little, I stayed home.  It was different. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself.  So I watched a couple talk shows in the mornings.  They made me laugh, and kept away the loneliness. 

And then that baby boy got a little bigger.  Around his first birthday, I felt it: that tap, tap of heavenly pruning shears on my heart.

There’s a lot of innuendo in this show, Anna.  Do you want him to know these things now?

“Umm… well, no, Lord…  But what am I going to do all morning?  Everyone else watches it, and…”

He is so patient.  He gave me time to think about it, and eventually I realized He was right. So I turned it off.  And I found other ways to make connections with people (real people, even!). 

And that’s how I grow.  One thing at a time.  He asks me to look at something in my life and examine it according to His standards.  And slowly I came to realize that raising children for the Kingdom is the same way.   

Discipling our children has to be on purpose.

That’s why I wanted to share this list with you.  So we can each find the thing God wants us to be intentional about, so we can grow.  So that we can disciple our children. 

I am far from perfect.  A few of these areas have become victories for me, yet others are still a battle.  

Look for the one thing God wants to challenge you with today.  Pray about it.  Seek His wisdom and ask for His strength.  And then do it!  Your kids will thank you!

12 Ways to Disciple Your Kids

1. Creation Time
   
2. Memorizing God’s Word
3. Believing Genesis: Have you given thought to the creation vs. evolution question?  What do you really believe?  Why?
4. Kids and Quiet Time: Is it their treasure or their burden?
   
5. Do Kids Belong in Big Church? 
   
6. TV, Music, Entertainment
7. Trusting God with Money: Pray about tithing, giving.  Do you really believe God can provide for your family?
8. Health and Nutrition: Taking care of the body we are given.
9. Work Ethic: Are you sighing or singing?
10. Education: It’s more than math!
11. The Words We Speak
12. Gentle and Quiet Spirit: It’s a choice!

What do you think?  How is God challenging you to disciple your kids?  Please share in the comments so we can encourage one another!

Recommended Reading:
Family Driven Faith, by Voddie Baucham Jr.