As a parent of two young children, there are few responsibilities that weigh on me heavier than the call to raise my children in the way of the Lord. I don’t want to create little robots that know the right things to do or the right words to say, but to teach them to love the Lord with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Thankfully, it’s not my place or responsibility to secure their salvation, but it is my calling as a parent to instruct them in the way of the Lord; and it is my desire to see my children, and the children of our local church, grow into young men and women who love the Lord and worship Him with their lives.
That’s not a burden any Christian parent can take lightly, or a task that can been tackled half-heartedly. The sobering reality is that if we don’t teach our children how to worship the only one who deserves it – God, then you can be certain the world will teach them how to worship something else.
The Bible makes it clear that teaching the next generation to worship God is not optional, but essential. Our worship and obedience to God isn’t just a personal relationship, it’s generational.
“If we have what future generations need and we have not made it a priority to share that with them, that is hiding God’s truth from them…it should be unimaginable to us that we would know the riches of God’s works and His marvellous acts and refuse to share them with another generation.”
Trip Lee
From one generation to the next
Deuteronomy 6 leaves no room for casual discipleship of the next generation – it calls for the lives of Israel to be an example of worship to God in every aspect to their sons, and son’s sons. And that responsibility remains true for us today.
Moses delivers his final messages to the people of Israel, who are on the edge of the Promised Land. While their time in the wilderness is finally coming to an end, Moses knows he will not enter in with them. It’s a new generation who will take that step and receive the promises of God, and before they do Moses is reminding them of God’s faithfulness, His covenant, and His commandments to them. He is urging Israel not to forget God and His commands even when they have received the blessings of the promised land, and to pass it on to their children and grandchildren.
Teaching children to fear the Lord
Moses’ instruction to fear the Lord wasn’t just out of concern for the generation of Israel standing in front of him, but also for “your sons and your son’s sons” (v2). This first instruction sets a solid foundation for growing in faith and for teaching future generations about God; it starts with a right fear of Him. Not living in constant terror of God. Rather, he instructs them to live in reverence and recognition of His holiness, stand in awe of His greatness, and to respond in obedience. Proper fear of the Lord creates a posture of worship that shapes how we live.
“Fear is just another word for worship or adoration. … The ability to fear God correlates to how much you know about Him. … The more you see His beauty, the more you will have awe and fear and worship Him.”
John MacArthur
The Bible consistently ties wisdom to this fear of the Lord: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Without this crucial foundation, our children won’t be able to build an understanding or make sense of who God is, or how life was intended to be lived.
This is displayed in the New Testament as the early church in Acts also walked in the fear of the Lord, and again in Hebrews we are reminded to worship God with reverence and awe. Fearing God is central for us today as it was for Israel then.
So how were the people of Israel, and how are we, to teach our children that it is wise to live in reverence and awe, in fear of God?
Well it starts with our own lives, and what they see in us. Children notice and absorb so many mannerisms, habits, and words that they see from their parents, and how we treat God and His Word is no different. They notice if God is treated casually, disregarded, or with reverence in the home. They learn what fear of the Lord is as they watch their parents praying, reading Scripture, singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making decisions that reflect trust and obedience to God. Parents, Grandparents, are you taking this responsibility seriously? Are these little footsteps following you in fear of the Lord, or love of the world?
Raising kids to love God with all their hearts
Moses commands that after fear of the Lord, comes a consuming love for the Lord. They are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (v5). God didn’t intend for this relationship with His people to be a cold, distant, external obedience – it was always about wholeheartedly devotion. God didn’t want His people to simply know about Him and His commands, but to love the One who gave them. As the generations grow in understanding and awe of God, their love of Him should also increase.
Jesus later confirms that this is still the greatest commandment in Matthew 22. A loving God who made a relationship between Himself and His creation possible is at the centre of the Christian life. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. Genuine love for God is not a vague feeling, it bears fruit, and reaches every area of our life .
For parents we’re not only called to raise our children to know of God, but to love Him. Do they see us acting like the Christian life is a chore, rather than a joy? That obedience is driven by duty, instead of love?
Are we modelling to the next generation that God is not only to be feared, but also deeply loved? If they see in us both reverences and affection for Him, they will see true worship flowing from the heart towards God.
Diligently teaching God’s Word at home
From fear and love of the Lord, Moses then gives a more practical instruction: “You shall teach them (God’s commands) diligently to your children, and shall talk when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
In other words, God’s Word is not just for the Sunday service, or special occasions. Parents are to carefully and intentionally share God’s Word with their children all throughout the day. Family prayer, Bible study, and conversation about God should be as natural and frequent as talking about the weather, or how your day was. Our children will learn what means most to us by watching what we give most of our time to.
Paul echos these words as he instructs fathers, “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Paul also uses Timothy and his upbringing as an example of this, as he grew up having known the Scriptures from childhood as he was taught by his mother and grandmother. Parents teaching children God’s Word is at the very heart of raising children. Children are a gift given by God, and we must do our very best as parents to present them back to Him as children who know and love their Heavenly Father.
Not every parent is a trained teacher or preacher, but every parent must be consistent and sincere in teaching their children. Reading the Bible at the dinner table, learning catechisms together, praying before school and bed, discussing passages while out on a walk. Over time, these small practises leave a deep impression. Children will see that the Bible isn’t just for Sundays, but is a foundation for life. It’s not too late to start putting these practices in place now.
Reminding the next generation of God’s faithfulness
Finally, Moses paints the picture of a child asking what the meaning of God’s instruction and commands are? In response, the parents of Israel were to tell of their history, of the slavery they lived in for hundreds of years, and how God, faithful to His promises, brought them out of Egypt with His mighty hand.
The answer to the child’s question isn’t a list of laws that must be followed, it’s a story of God’s saving power and faithfulness to His people, so that obedience would also be rooted in gratitude and trust. God has been faithful to His promises, and will continue to do the same forever.
This same pattern carries on as the Christian life is anchored in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Setting us free from the captivity of our sin. Peter reminds believers that once we were not a people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy (1 Peter 2:10). The Lord’s Supper itself was given so that we would “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). We obey because we remember, and we love and trust God because we know what He has already done.
This means that parents are to help children connect the story of God’s faithfulness throughout history, to their own lives. That Jesus died so that they can be forgiven and free from their sin. Giving examples of how God has provided, answered prayer, and forgiveness in Christ in our own lives can help point to the faithfulness of God and a real reason to trust in Him. They point to God’s power and mercy.
Are we frequently reminding the next generation of God’s goodness and faithfulness?
“Pass the promise,
To our sons and daughters,
God most high, God our Father,
We bear witness.”
Keith & Kristyn Getty – Pass The Promise
The role of the church
While parents are called to carry the primary responsibility to pass on the faith to their children, God never intended them to do this work alone. In the Old Testament, Israel was to be a community that remembered God’s covenant together, and raised the next generation in the way of the Lord. In the same way, the New Testament shows us that the church is a family in Christ, where each generation has a part to play in shaping the next.
In Titus 2, Paul teaches that older believers are to instruct and guide the younger to walk in godliness. Likewise, the Great Commission calls not only for proclaiming the gospel, but for the making of disciples, which requires diligent teaching. Not just of new believers around the world, but also just as much to the children within our congregations.
Passing on the knowledge and worship of God has always been at the heart of God’s plan for His people. Deuteronomy 6 reminds us that to fear Him, to love Him, to teach His Word, and to remember His faithfulness are not optional extras, but essential responsibilities for parents and the church alike. The next generation will either inherit love for God or our neglect and indifference. That reality should both humble and stir us to act diligently; but it should also encourage us, because God has promised to be faithful.
As we walk in obedience and depend on His Spirit, we can trust that the seeds we plant today will, by His grace, grow into a harvest of worshippers who know and love Him for generations to come.
