7 Reasons Your Child Should Read the Bible

Nine out of ten households own a Bible. However, very few families actually dust off their Bible for regular reading. If the adults in the home are not reading the Bible, it is safe to assume the children are not either. This is unfortunate since the world is working overtime to capture the hearts of our children. Children between the ages of 8-12 spend 4-6 hours a day watching screens. Please don’t get me wrong, screen-watching is fun, but there is an adverse impact on children from repeated exposure to negative behaviors, ideology, and influence.

Here are seven reasons your child (and you) should read the Bible every day:

1.  Reading the Bible will help your child know who God is.

Spending time in the Word teaches children about God’s character and communicates His deep love for them. Knowing God nurtures trust and a relationship with Him, and trusting God leads to a life of obedience to Him.

Eternal life means to know and experience You as the only true God. John 1:3

2.  God’s word is true.

We live in a world filled with fake news and social media. Even for adults, it is challenging to discern what is true. The Bible is trustworthy and relevant. It is a light in a child’s path as they navigate this dark and difficult world.

Your word is truth! So make them holy by the truth. John 17:17

Truth’s shining light guides me in my choices and decisions; the revelation of your word makes my pathway clear. Psalm 119:105

3.  Reading the Bible reminds us of what is important.

We are a forgetful people. Remember the time on Mount Sinai when Moses went to talk with God? Five minutes after Moses left for his hike, God’s people pooled their resources to make a golden calf idol (Exodus 32). If we don’t keep God’s truth daily before us, we will likely forget our calling as His people. Left to their own will, people will naturally and effortlessly drift away from God. The intentional habit of reading the Bible anchors us to our identity in Christ. A Lifeway Research Study recently revealed regularly reading the Bible as a child is the strongest predictor of spiritual health for young adults.

But whether I live or die is not important, for I don’t esteem my life as indispensable. It’s more important for me to fulfill my destiny and to finish the ministry my Lord Jesus has assigned to me, which is to faithfully preach the wonderful news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

4. Spending time in God’s word cultivates gratitude and calms an anxious heart.

We often have so much to be thankful for, but we are frequently too busy with our own agendas to notice. God’s word is like a magnifying glass, enlarging God’s goodness. Without the perspective of God’s word, our days can get blurry, and it’s hard to notice the blessings. Today’s children are dealing with unprecedented levels of anxiety. Helping them see God’s goodness through time spent in the word is a step toward instilling the peace of Christ into their hearts.

Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you.Colossians 3:17

5. Reading the Bible helps children recognize sin in their lives.

Sin often resides in the blind spot of our hearts. We can’t see it. Even David didn’t recognize his sin with Bathsheba until Nathan confronted him with a story about a greedy rich man. The stories in the Bible help us acknowledge where we are falling short of God’s goodness and missing the mark.

First, acknowledge your own blind spots and deal with them, and then you’ll be capable of dealing with the blind spot of your friend. Matthew 7:5

For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, and it pierces more sharply than a two-edged sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and sprite, bone and marrow meet. It interprets and reveals the truth, thoughts, and secret motives of our hearts. Hebrews 4:12

6. God’s word is a weapon against the enemy.

We have a real enemy prowling around our families, wanting to devour our children. Parents are constantly running defense against the lies and temptations of the enemy…technology, identity issues, body image, pornography, bullying, drugs, alcohol, sex, self-harm, depression, and anxiety are only a few of the challenges parents face in raising children today. God’s word offers parents an offensive strategy in the battle against the enemy’s desire to capture our children’s hearts.

In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the evil one. Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword for the spoken Word of God. Ephesians 6:16-18

7. Reading the bible shapes what a child loves.

Children will ultimately worship what they love. We want them to fall in love with God and fully embrace God’s love story for them. Alternatively, we want them to reject wrong things and the lies the world would have them believe. Time spent in the Word trains children up to love true, good, and beautiful things.

For your truth is the source of my understanding, not the falsehoods of those who don’t know you, which I despise. Psalm 119:10

The Bible is the most popular book ever written, selling over 100 million copies yearly. Imagine what would happen if the Bible became the most-read book in nine out of ten households.