Attributes of God
Mini-Series Kick-Off
So far, many of my articles have focused on broader ideas in Christian parenting, like resisting comparison, encouraging gratitude, and raising disciples.
Having the right perspective is crucial to parenting well, but we also need to take action. If our children are to learn who God is and what the Bible says, we need to teach them.
But what do we teach? Where do we start? This is where a lot of us get stuck. When we’re not sure what to teach, and we don’t have a plan, we can feel paralyzed and end up doing nothing.
If this is you, I suggest we start with God’s character. Who is this God that we worship? Why is He worthy of worship? It’s foundational, and it’s fun for our kids to get to know our big, amazing God who loves them very much.
Over the next several weeks, I’m doing a mini-series on several of God’s attributes. I’ll walk through one attribute (characteristic) at a time, and will provide some practical suggestions for how you can teach it to your children and bring it up naturally in everyday conversation.
I believe it’s vital that our children grow up with an accurate view of God. The God of the Bible is good, worthy of our worship and where the fullness of joy is found! I hope these next several weeks help you plant seeds of truth about God’s identity and character so your kids can see for themselves how great He is!
Who is God?
That’s a big question. It’s one we get to explore for the rest of our lives.
I teach preschool-aged children through Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), and we answer this question in one of our preschool program songs. The lyrics read, “Who is God? God is the Creator, who holds everyone and everything together. He is holy, and does not change.”
The New City Catechism is a great resource my husband and I have used for ourselves and our kids, and it frames the question this way:
Q: “What is God?”
A: “God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will.”
Both of these definitions emphasize that God is Creator. He is so many things, yet this is where scripture starts: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).” He is THE Creator of everyone and everything. Knowing this puts us in a good posture to understand who He is and who we are (and are not).
Next week, I’ll kick off the mini-series focusing on God as CREATOR. We’ll look at supporting scripture, family activities that support this truth, and how to address some common questions from kids around this topic!
If there is an attribute of God you’d like me to cover as part of this series, send me an email! I’d love to hear from you.