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Who Is Responsible For The Discipleship Of Your Children? (Impact Hard Devotional: Day 51)

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Impact Multiplication

“These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Deuteronomy 6:6–7

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Who is responsible for the discipleship of your children?

For decades, the de facto approach to discipleship for most American parents has been to drop off the children at “Kid’s Church” (or Sunday School) and ask them on the car ride home if they learned anything. It is estimated that churches across the country spend approximately 4 to 7 billion dollars annually on children’s ministry while our kids are growing up more spiritually deficient and Biblically illiterate than ever. The problem is not primarily with the children’s director or all of the volunteers that serve faithfully each week, but in the mistaken belief that the church is responsible for discipling your children.

When preparing the Israelites to enter the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness, God inspired Moses to give the people a set of instructions (commands) that would guide all of God’s children from that day on. The central piece of that instruction is a Hebrew teaching known as the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Within this very direct teaching that has been repeated by millions of Jews and Christians over the past 3500+ years is the command for parents (particularly fathers) to keep God’s Word in their hearts and diligently teach the Scriptures to their children. Before videos, powerpoints, crafts, and flannelgraphs, God had designed a tried and true approach to making disciples from one generation to the next. All it requires is a father and/or mother dedicated to integrating God’s Word, and the call to follow Christ into every aspect of daily life.

What steps have you taken to make a daily discipline of discipling your children? Would you say that you have been effective in this endeavor? If you are feeling a twinge of conviction, don’t let that bring you shame, or make you feel defeated. Instead, write down some practical and normal steps you can take with your kids to talk about the Scriptures, who God is, and what Christ has done. Find ways to model and share with them how we are called to live for Christ as His disciples. Even a few simple steps of obedience in this area will have a profound impact on your children, and potentially, generations to come.

Reflection: (Don’t skip this!)

What do I need to know?
How do I need to grow?
Where does this need to show up in my life?

Take the challenge, step up to the task, and watch God transform your life, your relationships and your legacy over the next 75 days in God’s Word.

Join the IMPACT Hard 75 Day Challenge!

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To Equip & Encourage

Who Is Responsible For The Discipleship Of Your Children? (Impact Hard Devotional: Day 51)

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