And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deu 6:7)

As Christian parents one of the greatest responsibilities given to us is the spiritual training of our children.   I realize that God ultimately holds my husband accountable for the family but my role as his wife is to come along beside him in the training of our children.  I’m to be his help meet in all areas including our children’s spiritual upbringing.  Giving our children a Christian education or making sure they are at church each Sunday will not be enough.  Many children who do not see the Christian faith lived out daily will not be grounded in sound doctrine; they will be tossed to and fro and carried away. (Eph 4:14)  These children will grow up resenting their Christian heritage.  Instead of looking to Christ as their supreme example they will use the hypocrisy of others as a stumbling block.  As a mother it is imperative that our children see our faith as real.  If we tell them to honor their parents yet we speak dishonoring of our own parents we are hurting our children’s faith.  If we tell them to love their brothers and sisters, yet they hear us talking in a negative light about our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are hurting our children’s faith.  If we tell our children that we should submit to Christ, yet they do not see us submissive to our husbands, we are hurting our children’s faith. If we tell our children that going to church is important yet they see us make excuses for our unfaithfulness, we are hurting our children’s faith.  If we tell them to forgive others yet we hold grudges in our own hearts, we are hurting our children’s faith.  If we tell them to respect authority yet we have a rebellious attitude toward those in authority we are hurting our children’s faith.  Being a mother comes with a lot of responsibility.  Being a Christian mother comes with even more.  So, how do we live out a life of faith so that we will point our children to Christ?  Deuteronomy 6:7 states that we are to be constantly teaching our children God’s law.  We should teach it to them when we get up, throughout the day, when we go to bed –  all the time.  In other words, teaching our children the ways of God should be a lifestyle.  A mother has many teachable moments with her children.  We can tell our children that we should pray for others but when we show our children they are impacted greater.  Many years ago when Aaron was very young we taught him that when an ambulance or fire truck passed us on the road we should pray for all the people involved.  Now, it has become a habit within our family.  We pray that God will watch over the workers, bless those who are hurt and most importantly that God will use the situation to draw people to Him.  This is a small teachable moment.  Several months ago after praying for an ambulance, our children later learned that they had been praying for Johnny and Barbara after their car accident.  God used this simple act of prayer to encourage and strengthen our family.  If we will look around with a pure heart we can see God in every moment of our day.  Then as we take those moments and teach our children, showing them God’s Word and living it out, our children will be pointed in the right direction and our homes will be homes of peace, joy and love.