Jesus gives us a clear call to discipleship in The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Maybe you equate this call with missionaries or pastors doing ministry overseas and locally. Do you consider your home a primary place for discipleship?

In the Home

Mom and Dad, how would you respond if you were asked to share how you are making disciples of your children? When you schedule out your weekly activities, do they include pursuits which are meant to be intentional in evangelizing your lost children and modeling and teaching your believing children to obey all that Jesus commanded? To ask it another way, what disciple-making habits are you practicing in your home life?

In Deuteronomy 6 we are commanded to be diligent to teach our children in all of life.

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. 

Ask Yourself

When you think about how your family spends its time, does it reflect the daily habits like those we find in Deuteronomy 6:4-9? Are you practicing habits of making disciples of your children when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise?

Consider These

Here are a few suggestions of habits for you to consider practicing in your own home life.

• Weekly setting aside a time to purposefully ask your children questions about themselves and what they think about different areas of life.
• Have at least three times a week of family worship in your home where you are in God’s Word, praying together, and singing. (link to GF resource)
• Have “life talks” with your kids wherever you go (Deuteronomy 6:7).
• Take your kids with you whenever you can to run errands or do tasks around the house; engaging them in the process and teaching them and showing them how your faith connects to how you live.
• Pray together as husband and wife for your children.
• Eat one meal a day together as a family, being purposeful in your conversations with your kids about God and faith in Jesus.
• Serve others together as a family.

What Will You do?

In life, if we are not proactive in how we schedule our time we will find that we have wasted valuable moments with our children. Talk with others from church to see what disciple-making habits they are living out. Let us spur one another on in redeeming the time by practicing habits of disciple-making in our homes.