We are in the final week of our Parenting 101 series. This week, we are talking about one of the most important aspects of raising children in our lives: raising spiritual champions who love Christ and have a personal relationship with Him. Indeed, there is nothing greater that any of us could want for our children than for them to know and love Christ. 3rd John 4 says it this way, “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.” In our study today, we will talk about how to point our children to Christ so that they will follow the truth and have a deep and personal relationship with Him one day.
Who is someone who had an impact on your spiritual life when you were a child, and how can you model their example for the children in your life?
1. When it comes to raising the kids in your life to have deep, thriving relationships with Christ, how is it going? What is going well? Where is there room for improvement?
2. Read Deuteronomy 6:1-5. Summarize the instruction we are given in Deuteronomy 6:4.
Deuteronomy 6:1-5
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
3. Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9. How are we to approach sharing about God and His word with the children in our lives, according to this passage of Scripture?
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
4. What is the result of loving God with everything in us and teaching the children in our lives to do the same?
1. What does it look like today to love God with our entire hearts, souls, minds, and strength?
2. What is one way you would like to grow in your relationship with Christ?
3. In what ways can you creatively teach the children in your lives to grow in their relationships with Christ?
Who are some of the children God has placed in your life, whether sons and daughters, grandchildren, or children of your friends? Share with your group the children whom God has placed in your life, along with one way that you encourage them to grow in their faith.
When it comes to teaching the children in our lives to grow in their relationships with Christ, there are three ways we can encourage them to grow spiritually: pray, study and memorize Scripture, and obey God and His word. Let's take a look at how we can grow in these areas and encourage the children in our lives to grow, too.
If we want to grow in our relationships with Christ, the best place to start is prayer. Through prayer, we have conversations with God and grow in our relationships with Him, ask Him for guidance and wisdom, and share our concerns with Him. We can also pray for the children in our lives. Just like talking with friends and family members, the more often we talk to Him and the more in-depth our conversations with Him are, the deeper our relationships with Him will be. This prayer is something we need to model for the children in our lives and encourage them to embrace it as well.
1. When are times that people tend to lean toward prayer? Why?
2. Read James 5:13-16.
James 5:13-16
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
3. Based on this passage of Scripture, when is the appropriate time to pray?
4. What is the impact of prayer, both in our lives and for the children in our lives?
5. How can you grow when it comes to your prayer life?
Of course, Scripture reading and memory are vital for growth in our relationships with Christ. If we want to have deep-rooted relationships, we must take time not just to read Scripture but also to reflect on it and memorize it. We must also encourage the children in our lives to spend their lives studying and memorizing Scripture, too.
1. Read Psalm 1:1-5.
Psalm 1:1-5
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. 4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.
2. How does the person in this passage of Scripture treat and respond to God’s word?
3. What is the impact of spending our lives reading and meditating on God’s word?
4. How can you grow when it comes to spending time reading and reflecting on Scripture?
The final marker of someone who has a thriving relationship with Christ is a deep-rooted obedience to God and His word. You see, a person who is mature in his or her faith does not just read and memorize Scripture. They also do what it says. If we want to be people who are mature in our faith, we have to obey God and His word and encourage the children in our lives to do the same.
1. Read James 1:22-25.
James 1:22-25
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
2. Summarize James’s teaching in this passage of Scripture.
3. Why is obedience critical when it comes to following God, according to this passage of Scripture?
4. What is one step of obedience you can take when it comes to growing in your relationship with God?
Take a few moments to reflect on the Scripture we studied today.
1. Pick one of the areas that we talked about that you would like to focus on over the next week: Praying, studying and memorizing Scripture, or obeying God and His word. Share that with your group.
2. What is one way you can focus on growing in that area over the next week? Share that with your group as well.
As you end your time together, pray. Ask God to help you as you seek to grow in your faith and lead the children in your life to grow, too. Commit to sharing the area you chose to focus on with the children in your life and invite them to take steps of growth along with you.
©2025 Sagebrush Church
