By Dannah Gresh, founder of True Girl
You probably clicked on this article because your heart beats to have a girl who loves her Bible as much as you love yours. Some things really are better caught than taught. So let me ask you:
Do you love God’s Word?
I think we often rush past the love and we get to the duty of reading our Bibles. Let’s slow down.
This verse is often used to remind us of our duty to get our children to live in obedience to God's Word.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
I really like those verses that challenge us as parents to teach the Truth to our children when we sit, when we lie down, when we walk, and when we rise! Sunday morning lessons just don't cut it. Training our children to embrace God's Truth is a moment-by-moment, life-on-life task. And a big one. That's why we cannot forget the context of this passage. Verse five reads:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”
We're supposed to love God with all our might before and as we teach our children His commandments.
All your might! (That’s so much love.)
If you do not START with your own love for God and His word, I’m afraid you may raise a girl whose head is full of Bible verses but whose heart does not embrace Truth!
Let me ask you again, do you love God’s Word?
Psalm 119, which we know as a passage that encourages us to obey God's Word, is infused with love for it. Not just once, but over and over and over again! Just soak in these words.
I find my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
Psalm 119:47
As I was reading Psalm 119 recently, this verse stuck out to me.
Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
Psalm 119:159
Revive me?
I find that an interesting request for a psalmist who loved God’s word so much. Is it possible that even those of us who love it, sometimes have need of being revived? Of course it is. So, if you're feeling a little dry in your prayer life or lacking the desire to read your Bible . . . well, you're not alone. I, for one, often need the Lord to revive me according to His lovingkindness. In fact, I begin the month of January by fasting and repositioning myself to love God's Word. Why? Because I'm often in need of having that passion revived.
I know you’re reading this article hoping to get all the secrets and tips you need to ensure your daughter embraces God’s Truth. But I think there’s no shortcut. You can buy all the devo tools, cute journaling Bibles, and thin-line pens you want but until you display a love for God’s Word, you’re not in the right posture to give her the desire to open her Bible regularly.
I invite you to push reset on your own patterns and preferences for digging into God’s word this month. Find out what it takes for you to stir up that love.
Ask God to make the words of the Bible new and refreshing to you. Petition Him to do the work of planting the love. Pray: “Renew my desire, Lord!”
That's how you begin to build a passion in your daughter's heart for her Bible.
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My team and I have developed a resource to help girls learn the habit of being in God’s Word daily. Start today to establish or re-establish a pattern for your love relationship with the God of the Universe to be nurtured.
Introducing the new True Girl subscription plan.
Consider it your toolbox to teach her to love her Bible! Every month your inbox can be filled with a coaching video on important topics and tools to draw your daughter into the Word. And our ultimate option includes a box delivered right to your door! We selected age-appropriate, Christ-centered themes for each box and fill them with ALL-NEW items that build the habits of spiritual disciplines.
Our True Girl theme verse:
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
Mom, the best way to teach your daughter to live like an authentic True Girl is to live like an authentic True Woman. And to do that, you've got to get your life lined up with the Truth of the Bible. Listen to Dannah Gresh every weekday on Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth's Revive Our Hearts podcast. The program features biblical teaching, interviews that offer godly advice, and other opportunities to abide in God's Word.
