Knowledge about the God is necessary, but what does god really want from each of us? At its Heart, our calling is about
coming to know God, loving God and learning to obey and trust Him with our entire being. Deuteronomy 6:7 is immediately preceded by “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all strength. These commandants that I give you today are to be upon your hearts” (Deuteronomy 6:7, NIV)
As parents, then, our goal is to influence both the hearts and minds of our children towards God. The first step is letting out children knows that God
loves them. As 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loves us.” How simple is that? And it can be as easy as just saying too. What started as a sweet game during a cuddling moment between a mother and her toddler son emerged into a lasting reminder of God’s immeasurable love, and it goes like this: Mom: “I Love you….”
Son: “I Love you….”
Mom: “I Love you more….”
Son: “I Love you more….”
Mom: “I Love you the most...”
Son: “But I love you infinity the most!”
Mom: “Mmm, that’s tough to beat, but you know what? God loves you even more than that, and He loves you before you were even born!” The
little boy, now in grade school, still loves that game, and while he has to concede defeat in the game, you can bet he knows that you can’t beat God’s love.(Yes, that little boy is my son.) With the foundation of God’s love, a preschooler then begins to correctly process all kinds of information that teaches just who this loving God is. And it’s up to the parents to bring that information forward in bite-sized tidbits in a joyful and accurate way.