How we are building a Christ-centered home

Bible study

Over the last year, the Lord has done great works in our hearts. He has taught us to trust Him as our Shepherd and Provider as we navigated many unknowns and major life decisions. He has drawn us closer to Him and led us as we seek to honour Him and do things His way.

We have always been a Christian family, but we wanted to be more intentional about pointing our child’s heart to the Lord. One of my favourite things about homeschooling, is the freedom and flexibility it offers us to spend time with God, but most of the habits we’ve made part of our daily and weekly routines over the last year are certainly possible for families of school-going children to do as well.

Every single one of these habits have made a positive impact on our family and our mindset, so if the list seems long and intimidating to you, just start with one. Ask God to lead you as you fix your eyes on Him.

Spend time in God’s Word

For some reason, when life gets busy, this seems to be the first habit to go out the door. In reality, our personal relationship with the Lord should be at the top of our priorities. It is certainly at the top of His. His relationship with us mattered so much to Him that He came to live among us, died and conquered death to make this relationship possible.

Leading your family to Christ is hard to do if you are not being led by Him. You can only give what you have. Slow down, connect with your Heavenly Father. Let His voice cast out the lies of the enemy and write the truth on your heart. Learn to take His lead. Show your children what it looks like to love Jesus. If you do nothing else on this list – do this.

Read the Bible together

No matter how young or how old your children are, there is great value in spending time in the Word of God together. Reading together allows for discussions and questions that might never come up otherwise. Don’t feel like you need to read older or difficult translations. The most important thing is to help everyone in your family understand what you are reading. Find a good children’s Bible and move up to a modern translation of the full Bible as your children get older. Don’t let the language difficulty keep anyone from receiving the Gospel. There are so many options out there. If you’re having trouble finding a good fit, perhaps ask around at your church or do some research online.

I’ve written reviews of some of our favourite Bibles for children aged 4 – 8. Feel free to click on the link below to read more:

Make reading His Word part of the daily rhythm of your home.

Psalm 1 : 1 – 3 (NIV) reads: 

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

Attend church regularly (and build relationships)

Attending a Bible-centred church together is such a valuable habit to establish in your home. Not only can you learn more about God and His Word but it gives everyone in your family the opportunity to meet other Christians. If you’re not part of a church community yet, start visiting the churches in you area and actively look for one that suits your family and worldview.

You may not realise how much you need a strong spiritual family yet, but harder days will come, and the prayers and support of those friends can become a lifeline to carry you through. We were never meant to follow Jesus in isolation.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (New International Version), explains it this way:

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Serve at your church

Once you’ve found a church where your family feels comfortable, start looking for a way to get your family involved and serve others at your church. Offer any skills or talents you have to be of service in God’s Kingdom. In doing this, you’re setting a good example for your children and you also spend more time with other people with committed servant hearts and build a stronger sense of community around your family.

Once you start investing time and resources towards serving God, you might feel your heart (and sometimes your patience) being tested. Remember, you serve God and no one else. Let Him use your gifts to build His Kingdom and purify your heart in the process.

Memorize Scripture

This one took me way too long to try! I guess I didn’t think it was possible for my 4-year-old to memorize Bible verses – but she absorbs everything she learns like a sponge so I don’t know what I was thinking. This year, I finally took the plunge. I started making some verse cards of a few verses and started including them in our homeschool. Every morning we would start with her repeating the chosen verse for the week after me. By the third day she was saying it off by heart and we started adding more verses, and now I’m running out of verse cards again! But seriously, if you’re not already doing this, give it a go. You’ll never regret writing the truth of the Father on your children’s hearts (and yours).

Include God in everyday conversations

A natural next step if you are already reading the Bible together and striving to live a life that honours God, is having God and His truth become a part of many conversations in your house. As the Word become alive in the hearts of your children, you start to learn how to apply it to everyday conversations and ideas. This is so valuable for both you and your children.

Much of the world believes that the Bible is not relevant in today’s age but nothing could be further from the truth. Once you learn this habit, you’ll start to see yourself, others and whatever happens in the world through God’s eyes. You’ll learn that He is who He says He is, and that He can and will do what He has promised.

Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 (NIV) encourages us as parents to talk about God to our children as part of our everyday life:

“The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

We still have so much to learn, and we are grateful to our faithful Heaven Father for walking alongside us on our parenting journey. May you fix your eyes on Him to lead you with yours.

What spiritual habits have you made part of your routine at home? Let us know in the comments what you’ve done to make Christ the centre of your family.

you may also like