First of all, please bear with me as I learn the technical side to blogging.  In case you couldn’t find the link from Joyce Meyer’s web site, click on the word “link” on the previous post and it will take you there.  Here it is again, in case you missed it:  http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?article=knowing_who_i_am_in_christ

When we as parents  teach a child “who he is in Christ”, we teach him what the Bible says about him.  Through the years, we tried several methods to teach Bible.

• Memorization–  this worked well with my daughter but not so well with my son.  Jana has an unbelievable memory, is very analytical, and loves trivia.  When she was about 9 years old, our church had a Bible quiz team.  She loved learning all the interesting details and was the star team member.  Jeremy on the other hand hates memory work and studying.  This was not a good approach for him.  
• Reading Aloud To Our Children-Both of them responded to this.  On the days we had “home days” (the days we were home all day),  I would read various Bible stories, books,  devotionals, etc. to the kids and they loved it.  We would get something to drink and sit in the living room in our pajamas as I read to them.  My favorite memories of homeschooling were when we went through The Greenleaf Guide to Ancient History.  This book is written as a narrative account of the Old Testament.  It took us almost three years to complete it but it sure was good.
• Reading the Bible-As the kids grew older, we encouraged them to read their Bibles on their own.  We did not force it, only gently encouraged it.  When the kids needed “attitude adjustments”  I knew they were not in the word as much as they needed to be  and prayed that God would give them a love for the word.
• Talking About the Word-  For my family, this was the most beneficial method to teach the word.  First of all, it kept Keary and I on our toes. How could we discuss the word with the kids if we didn’t know it ourselves?  This was only done when the opportunity permitted.  We did not have scheduled Bible Studies except for the “home days” time. Our family was very busy as the kids grew up and it was difficult to  scheduled them.  Also, when we tried to have regular family devotions we didn’t always get a good response; it felt forced and did not work for us.   We always discussed sermons after church, would discuss things we watched on TV,   would ask the kids  opinion on various topics  that would lead to discussions.  We tried to discuss the Bible during meal times with varying degrees of success.  I think when it came up as a natural course of conversation, it was great but when we tried to force it, it didn’t work.
• Teaching Our Belief System-  I did go through our church’s Statement of Faith with the kids to make sure that they knew what they believed and why. I did it during our “home days” first thing in the morning.

We did not teach “who I am in Christ” as a lesson.  We taught it as a lifestyle and attitude.  We strongly discouraged negative thinking and attitudes and did not allow our children to say derogatory and hateful things to each other.  I wish I would have thought about teaching it during our “home days”  But alas, it is never too late.  I think I’m going to email the kids a copy of the link from the previous email and have them read it.