Every child is
specifically designed, prepackaged and custom made for their God given
assignment. The role of parenting requires hard work borne out of genuine love.
It requires paying attention to early childhood details and using them to build
Godly foundations in the heart of children.
While the commitment
required to do the rough work with little credit is tremendously stressful, the
foundational mix for our kids is very important. The time, finance and sacrifices
are so huge in our fast paced 24th century, but we believe someday
you will look back and say, “I did my job as a parent.”
Have you often wondered
what the appropriate age to begin teaching children about God, Jesus and Bible
scriptures is? It will amaze you to know that even the youngest ones can be
taught about God and should be introduced to his words. If John the Baptist in
his mother’s womb could recognize the sovereignty of Jesus and leap for joy,
surely an infant can be introduced to spiritual truths.
The first stage in a
child’s life is to take in information through their 5 senses. They get
information from family relations, environmental exposure, the media, habits
and routines of those around close to them etc. we believe this early stage can
used to build a foundation of God’s word in their hearts. The Bible says in
Proverbs 22:6 –Train up a child in the way he should go, And
when he is old he will not depart from it, we recognize the burning need to impart our
toddlers spiritually from the onset and carry out our services with joy and
gladness. A day in church for us is much more than babysitting our toddlers so
they do not distract the service but rather a vital opportunity to introduce
spiritual truths about God, Jesus, his love and his word. Teachings for
toddlers aged 12 to 36 months spans four key lesson repeated all year round:
creation stories (God made everything), the birth of Jesus (Jesus is here) and
we love Jesus and Jesus loves me.
Now that we have
established that our little ones can learn about Jesus, how do we effectively
communicate these lessons to them?
You must be consistent
Consistency is the key
to breakthrough. To effectively communicate to toddlers, you must repeat the
simple truths of the scriptures over and over regardless of whether you get
bored with the repetition or not. Write out these short phrases ‘God is good,
God is love, thank you Jesus, God made everything, God is with us, God knows
everything’, put them up all around and say them to your toddlers frequently.
You can even convert most of them to songs that they can sing along with you.
Sing songs to them and teach them
If your toddler can
learn to sing secular nursery rhymes, surely they can sing songs about God, His
love and Creation. There are several Christian resources that can captivate our
toddlers and facilitate the learning of songs that magnify God.
Maximize the littlest opportunity to remind them about God in their
daily routine
When they eat ask them
who made the food they are eating (and prompt their response that God did).
When you are getting them dressed, sing ‘my head, my shoulders, knees and toes
all belong to Jesus,’ initially it may appear that you are doing all the
talking and answering your questions yourself but with time, they will provide
the responses and these seemingly little actions will help familiarize them
with God.
Be sure not to
underestimate how much your toddler can assimilate. A 2 year old can recite the
whole of Psalm 23 if you repeat it long enough. Build, keep building and
remember, especially with these little ones, consistency is the key.
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