I have a 20 month old and a 5 month old.  I have no greater responsibility and privilege in this life than to work toward their conversion for the glory of God.  As my wife and I have felt the weight of this, we have been struggling with this question, ”How do we be Gospel-Centered parents with little ones?”  This is the question that every Christian parent of toddlers and infants should be seeking to answer.

My 5 month old can’t talk.  He is learning to sit up and scoot around, and he knows our voices and faces, but still communication is ultra-limited.  What can I possibly do to give him an understanding of the Gospel?  My 20 month old can only say a couple dozen words.  He is learning colors, shapes, and letters, but he can’t even read, “See Spot Run”, much less the Holy Scriptures.  They have not the ability to understand 2+2=4, so what hope is there in their understanding the propitiation of Jesus Christ (I John 4:10).  How could we practically give the Gospel to our children when they are so young?

 The following ideas are some practical thoughts on how to be Gospel-centered parents with toddlers and infants:

1. Pray for them and with them, regularly.  (Seek to be as comfortable as possible now, praying out loud with and for your children.  Don’t wait until they’re older.)

2. Do Family Worship with them everyday.  (Look for a future post on the purposes, benefits, and reasons for doing family worship with your very young children.  But for now just remember that it is never too early for them to see and hear you reading the Word, praying fervantly, and worshiping the Lord sincerely.)

3. Take them to your church services with you every week.  (My wife and I keep our children with us during the worship services.  The younger you start this, the easier it will be to help them sit still and pay attention when they are older.)

4. Tell them the Gospel and the stories of the Bible often (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).  (Only God really knows what they get out of it.  Besides you wouldn’t let your toddlers or infants listen to profanities or watch violence or other vulgarity.  Why not?  Because we are worried how it might affect them.  Why not give them the eternal truth of God’s Word, even if we are “sure” they get nothing out of it.)

5. Read the Bible and other Christ-centered children’s books to them.  (The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Big Picture Story Bible, and R.C. Sproul’s children’s books are some good places to start.)

6. Live out the faith and grace of the Gospel everyday.  (We must begin with modeling the Gospel.  It is never too early to start doing this.  Besides, we should be doing this anyway.)

7. Sing Gospel hymns and songs around your children.  (Just going throughout your day, let the joy of knowing Christ overflow in songs of praise to Him.  Songs are a great way to teach Bible doctrine, especially the Gospel.)

8. Learn and think about the Gospel as much as you can.  (Seeking to have the Gospel front and center of our thinking will always serve to help us live it and share it with clarity and passion.  Read Dr. John Piper’s message to his family about seeking to have the Gospel always enlarging in their hearts. A good idea is to read a new blog post from Of First Importance everyday and meditate on it.  )

9. Discipline your children, if they are old enough, in order to get them to the point of listening to the Gospel (our 20 month old is old enough for this, but our 5 month old is not).  (I have always felt as if I wasn’t reaching the heart of my toddler when I would swat him and tell him why he was in trouble.  But two things struck me about this: 1. Proverbs 22:6, 15 and 23:13-14 teach that discipline is not just law, but it is also Gospel-love.  Our children need to hear the Gospel, but they won’t hear it from us if we fail to give them the discipline they need.  It is a lie that discipline is only law.  Our children must know that there is justice and righteousness, and we must show them acceptance and forgiveness based on that justice and righteousness.  We must give them categories for understanding the Gospel and we must seek to give them humble and teachable hearts.  This is Gospel-love.   This is Gospel-centered parenting, and this is done, in part, through discipline.  And 2. My understanding of this was confirmed and deepened by listening to a short audio clip of C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney talking about Gospel-Centered Parenting + Young Children).

This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it restricted to toddlers and infants, nor is it that complicated or deep, but it is my prayer that it will be an encouragement for you to be an ever-growing Gospel-centered parent with your little ones.