Speak TRUTH: How to Make Bible Stories Come Alive for Your Kids

I’ve watched my children grow from a simple interest in Bible stories and characters to an understanding of bigger faith concepts that directly apply to their lives.

It’s exciting to make Bible stories come alive for our kids so they can apply what they learn to their own lives.

But it can feel daunting to find ways to translate history into applicable encouragement.

When sharing the Bible, its stories and key concepts with my children, I’m following these simple steps that I pray will lead them to the T.R.U.T.H. while building their faith.

T – Tell the story.

R – Remind your child of their place in it.

U – Uncover big ideas that apply to their life.

T – Take action by modeling and showing your child how to model.

H – Hide it in their hearts through memorization and ongoing discussion.

Let’s unpack these T.R.U.T.H. concepts one by one.

T – Tell the story.

When we teach our children that the Bible is one, big, epic story, they can begin to connect the dots between each encounter they have with its characters.

R – Remind your child of their place in it.

The Bible is God’s story, but it’s also our story. God knew us and loved us from the beginning of creation. Teaching our children that the Bible is their story will help it come alive in their hearts.

U – Uncover big ideas that apply to their life.

As we consider each Bible story or faith concept to share, we can ask connecting questions like:

• What can my children understand in this story?
• What will be hard for them to understand and how can I explain it in their terms?
• What lesson or value in this story applies to their season of life?

T – Take action by modeling and showing your child how to model.

Purposefully applying each concept to our daily lives will give our children the tools they need to walk out their faith. Our child’s ability to put truth into action starts with our efforts to show them how.

We don’t need to be afraid to say, “I don’t know. Let’s pray about that” or “I’m sorry, I was wrong. What I did does not line up with God’s instructions for living.” Our transparency and humility throughout the growth process will help our children build a healthy expectation of themselves as they grow in their faith.

H – Hide it in their hearts through memorization and ongoing discussion.

We can choose a family verse or truth statement to memorize and discuss as we continue to unpack what we’ve learned. When we keep the discussion going and carry it into our everyday lives, our kids begin to see how to apply truth as they are living life.

Faith building is a process, a part of our child’s overall spiritual journey.

Even when it seems like they are not getting it or are too young to understand, we can be encouraged to keep at it by remembering

we are planting seeds that will grow into faith.

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Your Turn

How does your family follow the T.R.U.T.H steps? How are you incorporating God’s Word creatively and organically to help build your child or children’s faith walk? Come join the conversation on our blog. We want to hear from you!