In his best-selling book Bringing Up Boys, Dr. James Dobson makes these recommendations:
1. Talk with your child when he or she is young. “Even at three years of age,” Dr. Dobson says, “a child is capable of learning that the flowers, the sky, the birds, and even the rainbow are gifts from God’s hand.”
2. Teach your child to memorize verses of Scripture. “The first Scripture our children should learn is ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8).”
3. Show your child how to pray to God. In the early years, keep it simple. “They should be taught to thank Him before eating their food and to ask for His help when they are hurt or scared.”
4. Talk about spiritual matters throughout the day. “Scripture tells us … to give the greatest emphasis to the spiritual development of our children. Nothing even comes close to it in significance.”
5. Maintain an eternal perspective. “The only way you can be with your precious children in the next life is to introduce them to Jesus
Christ and His teachings, hopefully when they are young
and impressionable. This is Task Number One in child-rearing.”
6. Show how faith relates to life. “Not only is spiritual development of relevance to eternity, it is also critical to the way your children will live out their days on this earth. Specifically, [children] need to be well established in their faith in order to understand the meaning of good
and evil.”
