For good or for bad, we parents are the biggest influences in our children’s lives. The way we live creates an impression on kids for the rest of their lives. As scary as that sounds, that’s exactly how God designed family to be.
The Bible teaches that parents are to raise their children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). It’s up to us to point our children in the right direction.
More than anything, I want my children to grow up knowing God. I can’t force them to live a life that pleases the Father, but I can at least show them the way. That’s why I love stories like the one I heard about recently. It was such a great idea I wanted to share it.
This father used his own Bible reading time to create a spiritual road map of sorts for his children.
He bought a new Bible with wide margins for each of his three kids. He started reading in Genesis and read a little every day through to Revelation. During each of his daily readings, he made notes in the margins, writing about anything from thoughts about his own spiritual walk to highlights of scriptures that he wanted to point out.
Then on a special birthday year (such as 16 or 18), he presented each child with his or her own Bible filled with notes from their Daddy.
What a way to guide your children! Not only will those children treasure this gift as a labor of love from their father, but it is also something they can keep that will point them in the way they should go for the rest of their lives.