#10 TEACHING OUR CHILDREN to Worship in Song

Children—and sometimes adults—sing by just mouthing the words, not giving any thought to the words. For example, little children are taught to sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ before they understand who Jesus is and what it means to be loved by Jesus. As time passes and the child learns who God and Jesus are and what their deep loves signifies, the meaning of the song can be realized. Then, worship begins.

Suggestions about teaching a child how to worship in song.

  1. First, the parent needs to worship correctly in song. Children will be aware of whether or not we are just mouthing the words or if they have deep meaning to us.
  2. Parents need to recognize the need to teach even a young child more than the words of a song. What does it mean to love? Who is Jesus? What did He do to merit our love? What does it mean for us to learn this from the Bible? This means that time and attention needs to be spent teaching fundamentals to the child about God and Jesus and love. Only a foundation can be laid for this teaching if the child is very young. However, a daily family Bible reading hour can be utilized for teaching and building on this foundation.
  3. As time passes and the child understands more about Jesus and God as our heavenly Father, he or she should also be taught that the Bible is God’s word and our guide in all religious matters. This is plain in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

In these verses, it is clear that the Bible contains everything we need to go to heaven. Then, the Bible can be used to show the purpose of singing in worship as shown in Ephesians 5:19:

“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,”

This verse can be discussed with a child when he or she is old enough to understand the difference in repeating something by rote rather than saying it with feeling. This can then be applied to singing. It should be emphasized how important it is to understand in our hearts or minds what the words mean that we are singing. This is the foundation for worshipping correctly in song.

  1. As the child develops further, a second important verse to help the child worship in song is Colossians 3:16:

” Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

This verse stresses that worship should be a rich experience whereby singing becomes teaching others the wisdom and power of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Of course, as we sing, we personally benefit because we develop in our hearts a true thankfulness to God for all of our blessings.

This is probably an excellent time for the parent to use an example from the usual Sunday worship to show the child the depth of feeling that develops when worshipping in song. A song based on Psalms 8, verse 9, is a powerful example:

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

  1. In summary, the child should be taught that songs should be sung with understanding of the words. And that as we sing, we affirm the meaning of the words. For example, when we sing, “O God, how great thou art” it becomes our own adoration of God.

Passages that can be cited and read to the child during the daily Bible reading time: Ephesians 5:15-21; Colossians 3:12-17; Psalms 8:1-9; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 2:3-20; 1:46-55

  (Each family is encouraged to have a daily Bible reading or story time.)

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