How to Teach Your Children About Jesus with Dannah Gresh | Episode 64

I grew up in a loving, Christian home. However, learning about Jesus was primarily done at church. Because of this, I had a foundation of faith, but I really didn’t understand what it meant to have a living faith. When I got to college, my faith moved from “religion” to a relationship with God. Several years later when I became a mom, I knew that I didn’t want the church to be the primary place my kids learned about God; I wanted our home to be the primary place where my kids’ faith was nurtured. But I wasn’t sure where to start!

Today we’re talking all about how to teach our kids about Jesus, and I’m not going to tackle it alone. Joining me today is my friend Dannah Gresh, who is the founder of True Girl, author of over 20 books including Lies Young Women Believe, and the host of an online Bible study for tweens, teens, and their moms.

Dannah definitely understands what children need from their parents to develop a strong faith and in this episode we cover how to nurture your child’s faith, the crucial role being connected to our children plays, two essential tools you need for the journey, and the importance of being consistent. I believe this will equip you as a parent in huge ways!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Dannah’s Website (Home to all her resources and podcasts!)
• Connect with Dannah on Facebook and Instagram
• [Book] 8 Great Dates for Moms & Daughters: How to Talk About Cool Fashion, True Beauty, and Dignity
• The BeTween Podcast
• Born to Be Brave
• My True Girl
• As a thank you for listening, get your 3 free eBooks!

My Key Takeaways:

1) Determine to be a “strategic” parent. There is so much pressure on parents to teach kids all of the essential things they will need to know to be a good adult. But rather than striving to be the perfect parent, we should decide to be a “strategic” parent. This is a shift that determines you will not strive for perfection, but you are going to be intentional about investing in your kids where it counts. You can do this by taking intentional time around meals to get to know your kids rather than look at your phones. Or it may be planning specific times to pray with your kids. Like Dannah says, “I have to make a choice at some point that I am going to be strategic about the way I form and nurture the faith of my children.”

2) In order to succeed, you need tools and you need time. These are the two essential things you need to be a strategic parent. There are many great tools out there you can use: Bible studies, memorizing scripture, “date” ideas to spend time with your kids, etc… Find the one that fits your schedule and your child. The second thing you need is time. If you need to schedule 10 minutes into your day to make sure you have intentional time with your kid, do that! If you don’t set aside time to support and nurture your kids, you won’t remember to squeeze it in among all the other errands and tasks on your to-do list.

3) Most of all, be consistent. Teaching our kids about faith and their relationship with God can seem daunting, but the most important thing is not that you always go deep. The most important thing is that you are consistent in practicing your faith with your children. If you’ve determined to pray with your kids, pray with them every day. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. It can be five minutes, or one minute, or 30 seconds if that’s all you can fit in. The important thing is being consistent and helping them build the muscle of living out their faith in the day-to-day.

About Dannah: