Training in Godly Character

Moms have been asking me for practical ideas for training children to have godly character.  So because you asked. . . I humbly offer what I've learned.  I hope to make this a regular feature of the blog.

The heart of the matter is that character is, without a doubt, a heart matter.  Our character is who we are at the core.  We've often talked at our house about how our character is especially obvious when we are stressed.  When we get bumped or pressed, what spills out is an overflow of what's already in our hearts.  Since that is the case, what goes into the heart is incredibly important.

If our goal is godly character, then it only makes sense that we have to be pouring godly substance into our children's hearts.  I decided to ask my thirteen-year-old about his perspective on training children to have godly character.  I think you might be surprised at the answer.  My son said, "First of all, don't dumb down God's Word."  As a young person, he's convinced that even young children can relate to God's Word just as it is.  You might be even more surprised at one of the factors that led him to this conclusion.

When he was about three, he watched a video adaptation of a Biblical event recorded in the book of Daniel where, in the video, the principle remained the same, but most of the names and details had been altered quite significantly, in an attempt to appeal to children.  Already knowing something about the actual event, after seeing the video, he came to ask me a very important question, "Mama, was the statue the king set up really a chocolate bunny?"  I realized then and there that the cartoonization of Scripture wasn't helpful for him, but, instead, it had confused him.

I wonder if, in our attempts to make the Bible child-friendly, we may end up unwittingly stripping it of its power and meaning.  Scripture, just as it is, read with lively enthusiasm and not in those boring, monotone Bible reading voices I've sometimes heard, is infinitely more powerful at capturing the hearts and imaginations of young ones than any cartoon could ever hope to be.  Follow that with energetic discussion and application to life, and anything else will be a cheap imitation at best.

More to come. . .