Teach These Words to Your Family
Month 3: The Great Rescue · Loving Others
Today's Scripture
Read together: Deuteronomy 6:6–9
6 These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
Memory Verse
“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”— Deuteronomy 6:5 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Joshua 19–21
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 87 of 365 — the cities of refuge are set apart.)The Heart of It
Right after the command to love God with all our heart, God says something to families: "These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children" (). And notice how He says to teach them: "when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." In other words, not just at church or in one special hour. We teach them all through the ordinary day. At breakfast. In the car. At bedtime. On the walk to the park. Loving God is not a Sunday subject. It's a way of living that families pass down hand to hand, day after day.
This is one of the most loving things we can ever do for one another. The greatest gift parents can give children isn't toys or even a comfortable life. It's God Himself, handed down with joy. And it works both ways in a family. Older kids can help younger ones learn a verse. Children remind tired parents to pray. We all keep each other looking to Jesus. When God told Israel to bind His words on their hands and write them on their doorposts, He wasn't asking for fancy decorations. He was saying, let My truth touch everything you do and everywhere you live. A home soaked in God's Word is a home where love for Him is contagious. That's how rescue keeps getting passed to the next generation.
Around the Table
God's words go everywhere with us — at dinner, in the car, at bedtime! We help each other remember Him.
Let's do it: Pick one spot in the house and say a "God truth" there, like, "God loves us!" on the front door.
God says to talk about Him all through the day, not just at church. When is your favorite time to talk about God?
Let's talk: Who is one person in our family you could help learn a Bible verse this week?
"Teach them diligently" () makes faith an everyday, all-day thing. Faith is meant to be passed down on purpose.
Let's go deeper: How could you help pass God's truth to a younger sibling, cousin, or friend who doesn't know Jesus yet?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's a family saying or recipe that gets passed down in our family? Teaching each other about God is even more important to pass on. Why do you think that is?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
How do we know the Bible's message survived so accurately for thousands of years? Partly because of commands like this one. Families and scribes treated God's words as precious. They copied them and recited them with great care. We can tell others kindly () that the evidence for our copies of Scripture is remarkably strong. People who loved these words guarded them faithfully across generations.
For Dad · Go Deeper
is the charter of the family altar, and it lands squarely on you. God did not hand the spiritual shaping of your children mainly to the church, the school, or a curriculum. He handed it to parents, "when you sit… when you walk." This is exactly what you are doing right now in this devotional. Two cautions keep it healthy. First, "diligently" does not mean grimly. The goal is warmth and repetition, not pressure. Sons and daughters should taste delight in God at your table, not drudgery. Second, verse 6 comes before verse 7: "these words… shall be in your heart," then "you shall teach them." Heart first, mouth second. The most powerful lesson your kids will ever receive is watching dad genuinely love the God he's teaching them about.
Draws on: Sam Rainer, Raising Christian Kids in a Secular World (and the broader family-discipleship tradition).
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You for our family. Help us talk about You everywhere we go. At meals, in the car, and at bedtime. Put Your words deep in our hearts. Then help us pass Your love on to each other and to others. In Jesus' name, amen."
Loving God isn't a Sunday subject. It's an all-day, all-week treasure my family passes on together.