How we can biblically equip the next generation
I’m the mom of three daughters—a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 10-year-old. My girls are growing up in a vastly different world than the one I grew up in.
It is not enough for them to know basic Bible stories—they need to know how to read God’s Word for themselves and apply it to their lives.
They need to feel the freedom to ask hard questions and learn how to find the answers in Scripture. They need to understand the Bible is not just a book to be casually read, but rather a holy book that is the very words of God written to help them learn to love him greatly with the days they have been given.
Equip with God’s Word
This next generation needs to be equipped with God’s Word, like any generation before them.
I see the issues my girls and their friends wrestle with. They have lived through a worldwide pandemic. They feel the social media pressure to look perfect, have a perfect life, and grow a “following.” God’s truth is questioned and mocked. Christian values are questioned.
This generation is faced with issues their parents and grandparents did not have to deal with at their age. But instead of shrinking back in fear, we, as their parents, need to equip this generation with God’s Word.
Helping our children develop a daily habit of being in God’s Word and applying it to their life is a great place to start. Helping our children cultivate a lifelong habit of being in God’s Word is important, as it cultivates a desire to know God more and to love him greatly with their lives.
The way we help equip our children to look to their futures with hope instead of fear is by teaching them how to read and apply God’s Word to their lives.
One way we can instill the importance of reading God’s Word is by modeling this habit in front of them. When our children see us reading God’s Word and the importance we place on God’s Word in our lives, it impacts them.
It is not always what I say, but the fact my girls see me in God’s Word and how God’s truth impacts my life that makes the difference. It’s about our children seeing us cultivating a habit that is rooted in love for God, love for his Word, and a desire to know him more.
When our children see this desire in our lives, they’ll want it for themselves.
Heroes of the Bible
They need to know the heroes of the Bible. They need to know how God was faithful to his people in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
Against all odds, they need to understand how God used an ordinary orphan girl in Persia to save her people from genocide. They need to see how God used imperfect people like Moses to set His people free. They need to understand that no matter how far someone is from God, like Saul in the New Testament, one encounter with Jesus can turn their life completely around, like he did for Paul.
No one is too far gone.
They also need to see how prophecy written in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. They need to see God’s faithfulness to his children, people across generations, and his heart of love for them now.
Like the father of the prodigal son, God still runs to meet prodigals on their journey back to him.
Christian history
They need to know heroes from our rich Christian heritage.
Beyond seeing the faithfulness of God through his people’s lives in the Old and New Testaments, our children also need to know how God has been faithful to his children even after the last pages of the Bible were written.
Showing God’s faithfulness to his children through all generations and all over the world helps them understand God is still actively involved in people’s lives. Like those ordinary individuals God chose to use in the Bible, he continues to work powerfully through our Christian history.
We see from our history that God’s heroes didn’t stop on the last page of the Bible—they continue even now.
Influence the culture
They need to know God can use them to make a difference in their generation. This generation wants to know that their lives matter.
They are motivated by the idea of making a difference in the world. And they need to know, from reading God’s Word, that God has a plan for their lives.
By reading the Bible and learning about Christian heroes of our past, they will see God has been faithful to his children in the Bible, he has been faithful to his children throughout Christian history, and he will be faithful to them as they strive to live their lives for his glory.
Knowing God’s Word and God’s faithfulness through Christian history helps our children choose to be brave in the days ahead because they have seen how God has been faithful in the past.
Because of this, they can trust him to be faithful in their future. This next generation is indeed growing up in a vastly different world than we did as their parents, but as with the heroes of the Bible and the heroes of the past, God is with them, too.
They were born for “such a time as this,” and God is with them. My prayer for this generation is that God will raise up modern-day kids to be like Esther, Moses, and Paul as they strive to love God greatly with their lives.
Consider a few extra resources:
- https://www.christianparenting.org/articles/three-common-myths-when-it-comes-to-teaching-your-children-the-bible/
- https://www.christianparenting.org/articles/five-biblical-truths-to-anchor-your-childrens-identity-in-christ/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC-gD9Ej_4c&list=PLdPzQ_cUwCbRPOxygemmbhhIOCD67AvSx&index=26
