How to Raise Godly Children as Imperfect Parents

I vividly remember meeting an older friend for lunch shortly before becoming a parent.  More than anything else, I wanted to know how to raise Godly children, children who would grow up to love Jesus and walk with him.

After I asked the question, my friend looked into my eyes and said, “You won’t be the perfect parent.  But if you love Jesus with your whole heart, your love for him will help your kids grow to love him, too.”

Fourteen years later, I can attest that I am far from the perfect parent.

My husband and I are still very much in the process of raising our kids.  Nevertheless, we’re both pursuing Christ with our whole hearts (imperfectly, yet devotedly).  We’re also doing what we can to raise our kids in the love of Christ.

Today, I’m sharing a few simple ways to help your kids grow in faith.  I pray these insights will bless your family.

How to Raise Godly Children as Imperfect Parents

The pewter light of dawn spills through the curtain, and I gather our three children in the living room for morning devotions.  I have great ambitions to help these little ones grow in their faith.  Sadly, our devotional time often feels like a failure.

Like me, you might want to help your children grow spiritually.  However, teaching our little ones to walk with God can be challenging.

Most mornings, I have to break up at least two arguments about who is going to sit in the recliner.

The youngest two children often end up rolling around on the floor making animal noises.

I generally cannot get through more than 30 seconds of our devotional reading before someone needs to use the bathroom or interrupts me with a question that has nothing to do with what I’m reading.

I often end up snapping at my kids in frustration and feeling like I’ve failed them.

How to Raise Godly Children and Help Them Grow Spiritually

As Christian parents, we want to help our children grow spiritually, but we spend more time managing their behaviors than memorizing Bible verses.  We want to teach them to walk with the Lord, but we’re so busy breaking up their squabbles that we find little time to discuss meaningful biblical principles.

How do you help your children grow spiritually when you’re living in survival mode most of the time?

Our family has established three consistent rhythms that are helping our kids grow in their faith.  We don’t practice them perfectly, but we turn to them consistently.  These three practical ideas can help your children grow spiritually as well.

How to Help Your Children Grow Spiritually

1. Establish biblical core values for your family.

A few years ago, we asked the Lord to help us establish a few biblical values that might serve as our family’s core values.  We came up with the following three values:

• Always remember that you are loved by God (see Romans 8:38-39).
• Always be kind (see Colossians 3:13).
• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart (see Colossians 3:23).

We wrote down these three values, put them in picture frames, and displayed them on our kitchen wall.  Often, we talk about them while we eat dinner or prepare for the day ahead.

We remind our children that they are God’s beloved children, encourage them to be kind (which is always a good reminder at the dinner table), and encourage them to give their best as they sit at the table laboring over schoolwork.

Pray about establishing and displaying several family core values in your house.  You will have a built-in conversation starter to remind your kids what is most important to your family.

2. Memorize one Bible verse per week as a family.

We know God wants us to hide his Word in our hearts, but if we aren’t intentional about this discipline, it’s easy to overlook.

Our family memorizes one verse per week.  The process is simple.  I find a verse every Monday, write it on a blank sheet of paper with colorful markers, and hang it on the fridge.  Every morning throughout the week, all three kids practice repeating the verse.

This is a simple and quick way to begin the practice of hiding God’s Word in our hearts.

Some weeks turn into two or three weeks before the kids can recite our verse.  When this happens, we keep practicing until they know it.  This discipline isn’t about memorizing as many verses as possible.  Instead, we aim to truly let God’s words sink into our souls.

3. Carve out five minutes daily for family devotions.

There are 1,440 minutes in a day.  This number helps me reframe the “sacrifice” of finding five minutes per day for daily devotions with the kids.

We don’t do this perfectly.  With early morning sports practices and a pre-teen who likes to sleep in, we don’t pull off devotions as a family every single day.  However, I do my best to gather everyone in the living room for a short devotional reading as often as possible.

Our devotions include reading a short commentary from a children’s devotional book and reciting our weekly memory verse.  We conclude by giving each child a turn to thank God for one specific blessing and ask God for one request.

There’s no right way to do family devotions.  Making it a habit is a great step in the right direction—even if your kids roll around on the floor making tiger noises.

There are 1,440 minutes in a day. This number helps me reframe the “sacrifice” of finding five minutes per day for daily devotions with the kids. #familydevotions #devotionaltime Share on X

Don’t Lose Heart When It Comes to Learning How to Raise Godly Children

Lastly, let me gently encourage you.  Teaching our kids about Christ is a lifelong process.  Keep doing the best you can.

One of the best ways to help your children grow spiritually is to simply talk about Christ often throughout your days.  Talk about God when you drive to the store and when you tuck them into bed.

You are doing the important work of making disciples.  Jesus never promised it would be easy, but he did promise to go with you and help you.

A Free Daily Devotional for Kids

Do you want to help a younger person in your life grow in faith?  Check out our 7-day kids’ online devotional, Live Your Faith, right here.  This devotional contains seven devotions written with the help of our tween daughter, Bekah, and is a great book for families to read together.

Attention, all moms and daughters!

Lastly, in addition to writing to adults, I am also passionate about ministering to the next generation.

My 12-year-old daughter Bekah and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book together.  We hope to help moms and daughters connect and grow in faith together.  Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section.

Our vision is for girls ages 7-17 to enjoy it with their moms, grandmas, or older women they look up to.  However, mothers and daughters of all ages are using this book to grow closer together!  This book makes a wonderful gift for a mother or daughter you care about!

You can buy your paperback or eBook on Amazon right here.