“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’” Matthew 22:37-38
What Is the Most Important Thing?
Should I sign the kids up for golf lessons? What about camp? When do the in-laws arrive?
Sometimes summer can feel more stressful than the school year with all its activities, visitors, and vacations. I feel pressure to give my children as many opportunities as I can find on various blogs, Facebook, and online event calendars.
Truth is, I over schedule our family every single summer. Time management gurus challenge us to let go of busyness, follow a clear set of priorities, and say no more often. So, this summer, let’s challenge ourselves: What are the most important things to do?
Actually, Jesus gave us the answer to this question thousands of years ago in Matthew 22. The most important thing to do in life is “to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Translating this beautiful advice into my summer, I’m awakened to the need to prioritize God with my kids. Above golf. Above camp. Above all.
How do I make loving God more interesting to my children than jumping on the trampoline with the next-door neighbors? Here’s what God has taught me to do:
- Every day, I write our family’s top six priorities for the day on the chalkboard. Morning devotional time and daily Bible time always make the list. Next, I buy them each the same daily devotional book with short, kid-friendly topics, and before they emerge from their rooms for the day, they must complete their devos.
- Then, we do Bible time every day. I’m selective about which books of the Bible we walk through, so that it’s as kid-friendly as possible. In our home, Bible time also means yummy treats like chocolate, ice cream, or cookies! Now my children ask to do Bible time every day!
Kids have a beautiful, innocent faith in God, and I am teaching them the spiritual discipline of spending time with God while they are young so that it lasts into adulthood. The best part is that my heart is joyful and at peace knowing I’ve impressed upon my children’s hearts the most important thing: loving God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.
Blessings and Love,
Kristi
Go Deeper:
- Pray, pray, pray for your children to develop an authentic, rich love for God. Pray that for yourself too!
- Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Memorize this verse and let it motivate you to persist in seeking the things of God with your children every moment you can.
What’s Next?
Find a kid’s devotional book for each of your children to read every morning. Bible story coloring pages work great if the kids are still little. Remember, if a day is inadvertently missed, no worries and no guilt! Just pick up where you left off the next day and keep doing it!
"...he set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…”(v. 2-3)
Kristi loves to sing "a song of praise to our God, as He makes her steps secure” atop the Rocky Mountains! So far, she has summited 13 of Colorado's 14,000ft peaks with her husband and 2 boys.After 35 years in California, Kristi and her family have made their home in Colorado, where they delight in spending time together hiking, biking, playing music, or canoeing.
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