The Rule of 5 | ThreeThirtyMinistries

Leading your kids spiritually seems overwhelming to many but it’s not as hard as you might think. The key is to be intentional and consistent.

Picture that a man wants to chop down a massive tree. Every day he chops at if for 5 minutes. The question isn’t “Will the tree fall?” but “When will it fall?” As long as he is consistent, it will come down.

The Rule of 5 is simply that you can achieve amazing things if you give them consistent time and effort, and you don’t give up.

Below are some simple suggestions to help you overcome some of what might be holding you back and some easy ways that you can engage your kids with God’s truth.

Anchors that Hold Parents Back

I don’t have time – This is more of an excuse than anything because we make time for the things that are important to us. If sports are important to your family, you make time for it. So there’s not a lack of time-just a lack of priority.

I don’t know enough – It’s okay if your kids ask a question and you don’t know the answer. It’s actually healthy for them to see you say that you don’t know but that you’re going to find out. Don’t be afraid of questions. Don’t be afraid that you don’t know enough. You see, God never gave the church the responsibility of raising our kids to be godly. God gave primary responsibility for spiritual instruction to the parents but we live in a culture that outsources everything—If we don’t want to cook, we eat out. If we don’t want to mow our lawn, we hire the neighbor’s kid. We give sports to the coaches and education to the school system. Gone are the days of us entertaining ourselves because give entertainment to the TV and our devices. We live in a world that outsources everything, so it’s the natural tendency of our parents to outsource the spiritual education of our kids to the church. But this was never how God intended our families to be.

I don’t know how – Many parents simply copy what their parents did for them. Most of us didn’t have parents who led spiritual family activities and engaged us with spiritual questions. Some of us didn’t even grow eating meals as a family and in following these patterns, we take our kids to church and that’s about it as far as spiritual matters are concerned. And because of this, we have created a culture where our kids build their entire relationship with God around attending a building. Or as one person said, “God is at church but real life happens everywhere else.” But there are a host of easy ways that you can lead your children spiritually and show them that Jesus affects every part of our lives. So in answer to the statement, “I don’t know how,” we say, “Let us show you.” Keep reading for some simple suggestions.

Simple Ways to Create Spiritual Moments

Have breakfast together. Read a chapter from one of the Gospels or from Psalms or Proverbs. Then ask if they have any questions. Ask if anything stuck out to them. Then ask how you can pray for them throughout the day.

Ask questions. When you’re in the car, ask a question such as: What is your greatest fear? What worries you? What do you think your life will be like in 10 years? What’s your biggest dream? If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Then have everyone go around the car and answer the question. Some of these questions are spiritual and some are not but they will help create open lines of communication. Ask questions that can lead to spiritual conversations or ask fun question and don’t be afraid to ask hard questions too.

Eat meals together and talk about what is going on in your kids’ lives. Use these situations as way to show them how God’s Word affects every part of life. Or, go around the table and ask everyone to share their salvation testimony or to share what God is doing in their lives, etc.

Pray together. Bedtime is a great time to create a prayer pattern. Learn the Lord’s Prayer together as you recite it each night. Talk about it. Ask how you can pray for them. Tell them how they can pray for you. Click HERE for more ideas.

Tell stories at bedtime. These can be Bible stories, stories from your life that teach spiritual lessons, just fun stories that teach truth and help build character. Click HERE for more ideas.

Set aside a certain night of the week for Family Fun Activities. Click HERE for a ton of family “devotions” where you will have fun, laugh, and make great memories while learning important truths from God’s Word. Then follow your devotion time with a family game night.