Someone’s Going To Teach Them
The Bible is clear on the responsibility, mandate even, for fathers to teach their children. This command can be found throughout Scripture. Moses wrote about it, Solomon wrote about it, Paul wrote about it, so there's no doubt this is important to God. Jesus, Himself, is often called Teacher or Rabbi as He modeled this principle for us to follow. So if the responsibility of fathers to teach their children is God's expectation of us, why aren't we doing it?
We can make lots of excuses why we don't teach. To be blunt, none of them will hold water when we give an account to the Lord. He's equipped us to get the job done, we need to be obedient and follow through. You may say, I'm no Bible scholar and I'm certainly not a teacher so how exactly has He equipped me? Here are a few suggestions if you're just getting started or don't know where to begin.
Make spending time in the Word a priority in your own life. You can't lead people to a place you yourself aren't willing to go. Find a reading plan, grab a notebook and pen to capture what God speaks to you, a highlighter to emphasize specific verses, and set a time each day to read and reflect. Make a daily appointment with God in your calendar and stick to it. Consistency builds habits.
Let your family see you spending time in the Word, consistently, before you ask them to join you. Children tend to listen with their eyes.
Share what God's speaking to you and show your obedience to His will. When the Bible comes to life through you, it becomes more inviting to your family. It's okay to be vulnerable and share where you're struggling. Transparency and perseverance are clear evidence that God's Word is important to you and a priority for you.
Use supplemental resources to help you learn more about the chapters and verses you're reading. Understanding the historical context, the original audience and other facts around the Scripture makes it even more relatable and exciting. Reading about an Old Testament battle is interesting, learning more about the significance of the battle makes it fascinating. The Bible Project has a series of videos on every book in the Old and New Testaments (https://bibleproject.com/explore/book-overviews/). Not only are these helpful for you, they can be a fun way to engage your children as well. If you already have a solid foundation in God's Word, check out some commentaries or drill into a word study. Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/) has great tools to help you grasp the original language. One note of caution, make sure any resource you select is based on sound theology. One way to do this is to seek out the organization or author's statement of faith. If you're still not sure, check with your pastor, a mature brother in your local body, or feel free to reach out to one of the Fort Iron Ministries Instructors. Drop a comment on this article or submit a question on this site and we'll get back with you.
God's Word never comes back void (Isaiah 55:11). I'm confident He will bless your efforts and you'll be amazed by how time in the Word transforms you.
So what happens when fathers are not teaching God's Word to their children? In a word, chaos. The Bible is the foundation of how we're called to live and the Source of hope in challenging times. If the Bible is not the moral standard for your children, the world will fill them with confusion and temporal responses to eternal questions. It's not hard to see this in the culture around us. For those who don't know God and His Word, the delusions they live under are heartbreaking. Those who claim to know God and His Word, but don't engage with Him through the Bible, are deceiving themselves and putting their families in harm's way. If you're not teaching your children, someone else is. Is this a risk you're comfortable with?
On a personal note, I was not a believer when my oldest was a child and became a new believer when my youngest was a child. They're both adults now and over time I've made up for lost time. Unfortunately, I still have to deal with the consequences of the lost time. Even more important than my consequences are theirs because I didn't fulfill my role. I'm passionate about this topic because I want every man to avoid my mistakes and the heartbreak that came as a result.
If you're not teaching your children today, what are you waiting for?