• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Lifeway Voices

Lifeway Voices

Trustworthy, Christian perspectives on life

  • Sections
    • Bible & Theology
    • Discipleship & Evangelism
    • Church Ministry & Leadership
    • Marriage & Family
    • Culture & Current Events
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Shop
Marriage & Family | Videos

How to Get Your Kids to Read The Bible

by Jonathan Pitts | January 7, 2020

As a Christian parent you want your children to engage in Scripture and read their Bibles, but how do you teach them to do that? In this video, author and executive pastor of Church of the City, Jonathan Pitts, explains that producing a love of the Bible in your kids may have more to do with how you act as a parent and less to do with what you teach them.

The entire video is above, and the complete transcript is below.


Early on in my fathering journey – I have four girls – and early on in my journey I thought a lot about what does it look like to get my girls to engage in God’s Word and to read their Bibles? And I think about what are the different things that I can do and systems that I can implement to help them read? 

But the thing that I discovered as I just grew as a father and grew in understanding that my ability to convince my girls to do anything is really limited, I began to understand that it was less about what I say and less about what I teach them and more about what I do. 

You’ve heard the saying that “you can teach what you know, but that you’ll reproduce who you are.” And so I’m a firm believer in the fact that I can try to teach my girls to do lots of different things, but if I’m not doing it myself I won’t reproduce it in them.

The thing that’s beautiful to me now is that I watch my girls engage in Scripture, not because I’ve taught them, but because we’ve just practiced doing it together and they began seeing the value of what Scripture does in their lives. I get excited to walk into their bedrooms one morning and just see them engaging in God’s Word together. I have twin daughters. Sometimes they’re doing little Bible studies. They play church sometimes and one of them gets to preach. And so it’s a lot of fun to watch my girls engage with God’s Word. 

But my hope right now is that I’m actually reproducing who I am and to the degree that I’m actually engaging in God’s Word myself is to the degree that my girls will follow me in that.

Find more from Jonathan Pitts at Lifeway.com
She Is Yours

She Is Yours

With this practical advice and encouragement found in She is Yours, you can help your daughter develop awesome relationships with God, with you, and with the world around her.

FIND OUT MORE

Related Reads

About Jonathan Pitts

Jonathan Pitts is an author, speaker, and the executive pastor at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee. He previously served as the executive director at the Urban Alternative, the national ministry of Dr. Tony Evans. Jonathan has co-authored two books alongside of his late wife, Wynter Pitts. He is also President and co-founder of For Girls Like You Ministries, an equipping and resourcing ministry for tween girls and their parents. Jonathan is the father of four daughters. His oldest daughter is actress, author and vocalist Alena Pitts. He was blessed with fifteen intentional years of marriage to Wynter.

Contact

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2022 Lifeway Christian Resources | FAQ