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One of the tasks we’ve taken on this year is to purposefully teach our three-year old daughter scripture. The Bible states that children are more than capable, actually they are uniquely qualified, to have a close relationship with God in ways that may be difficult as they age. This may be because of their lack of cynicism and their uninhibited joy and enthusiasm for the objects of their love that draw them to the God they cannot see.

 Luke 18:16-17 says, “Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it’.” Needless to say, we are convinced that it extremely important for Campbell to learn about Jesus and to begin to memorize what He said and discover how it applies to her life.

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and we are working through it with Campbell. Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding verse and a little story of the verse in action. First, I’ll just say that the stories are lame and cheesey, but nevertheless, Cam loves them! My original intention was to learn one verse a week. I honestly thought it would take her that long to memorize them. Man, was I wrong! Campbell loved sitting down and reading the stories and repeating the verses after me so much that she is learning one new verse A DAY! We are currently up to letter “L”, and it’s been going great. We talk about the verse all day long, and they often come up in situations when she disobeys, and I’m able to redirect her using the verse. (You should hear how often the verse , “Do all things without complaining or disputing” is repeated in our house!) I can’t say enough how proud of her I am , or how thrilled I am that she is hiding these important verses in her heart. We haven’t sat down to do it every day- I need more self-discipline!- but it’s a start. And one unexpected benefit of teaching her scripture is that I am relearning verses as well. As a result, I’m more aware of my own actions!

Obviously, not every child is going to love sitting down and memorizing scripture (my daughter is sort of a dork :), but another great way to teach your child Bible verses is through music. We’ve already talked about Seeds Family Worship here. This music is awesome for older kids because they’re catchy and fun to dance around to.

Hide ‘Em in Your Heart by Steve Green is great for younger listeners (My nephew and daughter really love these songs), and each song is taken directly from select verses in the Bible.

Now this one is hysterical!  Critter County, featuring Christine Wyrtzen, was made in 1984 and includes 24 verses (one for each letter of the alphabet) set to music. Each song is sung by a different animal that starts with that letter. I remember singing these songs when I was little, and now Campbell LOVES singing these songs, as well. These CD’s are a little hard to find, but the link above had a few for sale. You could probably find a vinyl record or cassette tape of it, if you tried hard enough! Ha! 😉

No matter how you decide to do it, the most important thing is that your child is learning Bible verses that will not only help them overcome and persevere through the trials and temptations that will inevitably come, but will also instruct them to seek God’s heart and receive the promises and blessings He has for those who follow Him.