Listen to Audio
Want some practical tips on how NOT to do a family Bible study? Here are some ways with the best intentions I failed at family Bible study. Don’t do these things!
- Do it really early in the morning. Make everyone get up super early and sit around the dinner table with you.
- Get really frustrated when they don’t pay attention. This time with God is really important and they need to feel terrible if they are not doing what they are told.
- Read Scripture that is over their heads. Expect them to be super quiet as you read something they are having trouble understanding.
- Lecture a lot and don’t ask a lot of questions. Of course, this is all about you teaching God’s Word to them, not exploring this together.
- Make sure it lasts a long time. God’s Word is important so we need to be able to study it for an extended period of time.
- Feel underappreciated for all your effort and make that known to your family. They really should be more grateful.
Yes, I have made all these mistakes. But here’s the redeeming part. I learned from them. I changed the way I did them. I learned to be more patient with my kids. I made them shorter and involved them more in the process.
Avoid the mistakes I made. Make your family Bible studies short, engaging, and age-appropriate. Be patient with them and don’t be offended when it doesn’t go perfectly. You are training your kids to have a love for God’s Word. Don’t make family Bible studies have the opposite effect. Be the parent whose kids look back on family Bible studies with fondness.
