Training a Small Saint

One thing I spend a lot of time praying about is the discipling I do with my Gabriel. Discipline is obviously important and we spend a lot of time praying about that & implementing that also. But discipling is huge. And I don’t want to limit myself to modern evangelical, super-sappy, watered-down versions of teaching my son about Scripture, about God, about his salvation, about the body of Christ, about theology… This child doesn’t need to be fed watered-down milk. This child needs steak! Obviously not an entire steak thrown in front of him, because he doesn’t necessarily know how to properly wield a steak-knife and fork yet on his own. But I will feed him steak. I will help him cut it into pieces appropriately sized for his ingestion. I will instruct him on how to chew it, what swallowing it does, and how it nourishes our bodies. And of course we might occasionally wash it down with a glass of milk, especially if the steak gets a little too chewy or chunky in the throat. I have no problem with that. (I’m using Hebrews 5:12-14 & 1 Cor 3:2 as some inspiration for the metaphor, in case you didn’t pick up on that yet. 😉 )

But my endeavor, my goal, is to bring my son up on the hearty solid food of the Word. On steak and wine. Not on watered down milky psuedo-Scripture and psuedo-theology.

How that will look over time, I can not precisely tell you at this point. It’s a fluid concept. It will grow as he grows and as I grow (and as we grow as a family).

One way that I am striving to instill good theology into my toddler (who is not yet three years old) is by catechizing him. We are using this catechism right now, and Gabriel is quickly learning the answers; and I love having little discussions with him about it, as we chew and swallow and enjoy and are nourished. On a childlike level of real steak and wine. Little bites. Little sips. But truly nourishing, delicious, and delighting.

2 Replies to “Training a Small Saint”

  1. Jason and I are always on the look out for good, solid ways to help us in the training up of our kids. One thing we caught onto is that from very young ages (like 10 months) Ethan and Rachel were memorizing songs they heard on the radio. So we began adding to our CD collection and figured we’d make good use of our time in the car and often times around the house.
    We bought Steve Green’s Hide-’em-in-Your-Heart CDs and then I found Judy Rogers (tacky voice, I know, but solid, great words!) off Amazon.
    I love hearing them walking around the house singing from God’s word! And when we’re in those moments of discipline and talks, we can even pull from those songs – helping them to really think about the words they’re hearing. Plus it makes for great conversations in the car 🙂

  2. Awesome!! 🙂
    The small children’s catechism sounds perfect for his age too.
    And I think you’re absolutely right to not water anything down. Keep feeding him steak! 🙂
    A lot of people may be surprised but little children have a wonderful appetite for learning and they can remember just about anything and everything you teach them. They are like sponges, ready to soak up knowledge.

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