4 Ideas for Transmitting Faith

One of my goals as a homeschooling momma is to transmit my faith to my kids. I want them to have a personal relationship with Christ from a young age. But I also understand they can't ride on my coattails, or my husband's or their grandparents, or aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  You get the picture.

So I long for them to catch sight of who Jesus is so they can spend the rest of their lives chasing Him and His will for their lives.
Here are a few things I do to try to cultivate that.

1) Most school days start with Bible reading. I found if we didn't do it at the beginning, it often got lost. So a couple years ago we switched to doing it first thing. I'm so glad that very simple change worked!

2) Read the Bible so the kids know what it says. Right now, we're reading the Story. It's a stripped down version of the Bible, meaning it focuses on the story, the history, without the prophecies, law, etc. As a result, it's not the full Bible, but it's giving them great context to how it all fits together. Next year, we'll expand on that by reading the whole Bible, but this is working very well for us. 

3) Transmit how faith works in your life. I'm always talking about how God opens doors. The times I turn to Him for strength. I let the kids see me doing Bible study. I share how much I need Him to live life. We talk about how hard it must be to live life apart from Him. The key is it's a natural, on-going part of our lives. 

4) Encourage them when you see them seeking God on their own. If you notice they're reading the Bible, ask what God is showing them. Place a value on time spent with God. Incorporate the need for them to seek God on their own. I've always talked about how they can be anything God calls them to be. Apart from Him life doesn't work as well. 

These are just a few of the things we do. What about you? How are you transmitting faith? What worked in your family (whether you were the child or the parent)?