–Originally published on FWB21 June 23, 2011–
The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something today. As I was reading this morning, the realization dawned on me that the Deuteronomy 6 way of teaching was perfectly modeled by Jesus Christ himself. I’m sure this is probably not news to most of you, but I personally had never really thought about it that way before. Even though he was not a parent, Jesus taught his disciples both in the house and walking by the way, when lying down and rising up.
Think back on the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. He was constantly teaching His disciples. After encounters with various individuals, He would take His disciples aside and explain some truth to them (though they often did not understand what He meant). He would present object lessons along the way and allow the disciples to experience or witness things that would make them ask questions. He modeled prayer and service for them, and He demonstrated qualities like compassion, humility, etc.
Granted, Jesus did these things perfectly because He is God in the flesh, but what better example to follow? With His Holy Spirit as our guide, we can be empowered to effectively disciple our children in the same holy way. What an exciting thought!