Discipleship

Good Lookin’ and I love Jesus!  And, our greatest desire is for our children to also love Jesus. 

Our lives involved going to church and personal time with Jesus before we brought children into this world. So, for us, it felt natural that we needed to teach our children how to study God’s Word on their own time. 

Through the years, Good Lookin’ has met with other fathers and asked what they are doing to intentionally lead their children in following Jesus. He has rarely received an answer that displays intentional steps, just vague ideals like; I love my wife, I am good, I try not to swear, I go to church and I take them to church. These are all good things, but none of them teach how to know Jesus better and grow in understanding of his love for us. We have wondered why so many parents give the heavy responsibility of teaching their children about all spiritual things to the church. That is like trying to learn to speak a foreign language by spending 20 minutes each week!  We have come to realize that many parents do not know themselves how to teach their children to study the Word, but they do want them to know Jesus. 

Here is what we have done. When each of our children entered 3rd grade, Good Lookin’ began discipling them by studying the book of John. This involved a basic Bible study that they met to discuss each week. We believe that anything worth doing requires our intentional sacrifice. For example, discipleship requires the sacrifice of sleep (so does working out!), and so Good Lookin’ would meet individually with each child before school once each week.

Once our children were in 6th grade, we invited other children (of the same gender) to join us for a group study before school. As more of our children entered middle school, we had those groups meet together. Then, we had a middle school and a high school group, all while still meeting individually with our elementary school kids. The groups of children that come to our house arrive at 6:15am for study followed by breakfast together (which I would prepare while Good Lookin’ led the study) and then we get the whole lot of them to school. We live a few blocks from the middle school, so the kids walk, and we drive the high school kids if they don’t have enough drivers themselves. 

These studies have built a camaraderie with other students that are learning the deep truths about how much God loves people and a support system that confidently travels to the public schools with our small discipleship group. We have had many children join us for a year or two and others that faithfully traveled through God’s Word with us until high school graduation!  

Good Lookin’ has written all the studies that he uses to teach our children about God’s Word. Each week at the end of the study he gives them the passage to be studied the next week and 1-3 questions about that passage. Each week, our children read the passage daily, handwrite the passage, and then write out their answers to the questions in a 50cent composition notebook. (I love looking through these old notebooks to see their adorable phonetically spelled answers in large 3rd grade print.)  To read the answers of my children, opens my eyes and heart to Jesus’ teaching, “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3  Their faith was so simple and beautiful. Their answers are hopeful, trusting and sure. Children exemplify faith and what it looks like to believe because their hearts are pure.

Each book of the Bible has a new composition notebook. Good Lookin’ meets for ½ hour to 45 minutes every week to discuss the passage and the questions. (Remember: the kids do their prep individually on their own and are prepared to discuss it.)

What books have they studied?… Let’s see, they have studied John, Mark, Romans and Ephesians, and once he created a topical study to discover what it means for us to love God (the quick answer is: Obey Him!). Which means those have also been completely transcribed by each of our children as they take a deeper look at 5-15 verses at a time. This is a slow process. We are not in a hurry. God uses this study to bring up deeper questions and understanding of His Word.

This process has taught our children truth. Truth according to God’s Word. Truth that allows them to walk confidently in this life knowing that they are deeply loved and perfectly made for His good works. Truth in knowing their identity and whose they are. Truth in knowing who Jesus is!

I am excited to share these Bible studies with you. Don’t hesitate to start leading your children in God’s Word even if they are already older than 3rd grade. Brian and I have led our children through these studies, as well as college age students, young adults and even a few people that older than us! Any age can grow spiritually when they have a teachable spirit to be discipled. My prayer is that these studies will help you to disciple your children personally and lead them to discover and love Jesus deeply. And maybe you, too!

May this bless your children, and their children and their children’s children. Amen!