Helping Your Teen Start their Own Bible Study

As a mother to a soon-to-be teenager, I have been thinking of ways to help him start his own Bible Study time. While I have encouraged and even “assigned” him to read his Bible daily, now is the time that he needs to start learning to do it on his own.

However, I don’t want it to be out of obligation, but rather a yearning for God’s Word and to know Him more intimately. Which is why I can only share different ways to help him realize and understand the importance of truly knowing God’s Word for himself.

It’s Never Too Late

Whether you’ve been training and teaching them for years or just starting now, it’s never too late to help them get started reading God’s Word on their own. Once our children can read, we teach them to adopt the First 5 Rule, which means their Bible time (whether done together or on their own) comes before anything else.

If you’re just starting this journey with older children, this is a great way to help them learn to prioritize not only their Bible study time, but also their other obligations before anything else is allowed.

Journaling

I love to write out things I’m learning, whether in my own Bible Study time, during a sermon or in school. I remember so much more when I write things down. I also love to write out my own thoughts and feelings to help me formulate and work through things I am processing.

Some children may be the same way. Journaling is a great way to help kids begin their own Bible Study time. Journaling can be as simple as writing out your thoughts and favorite verses or as elaborate as illustrating what you’ve read through doodles and drawings.

I jot down things that come to me, connections I make, verses I want to look up and read more on a topic. That’s why I love using notebooking and/or journaling pages during my Bible study time.

Learn through Word Studies

Honestly, I never knew what word studies were until I went to college. I either did simple Bible studies or just read through the Bible chapter by chapter, book by book. While I fully believe the Holy Spirit can and will reveal to you the meaning of the Scriptures as you read them, word studies are a great way to help kids dive deeper.

If you’ve never done a word study, it is basically doing research on a specific word or phrase by breaking it down to it’s roots in either Greek or Hebrew (depending on which testament you’re reading). The good thing about doing word studies is you don’t actually have to be fluent in Greek or Hebrew for it to be effective. However, if you take the time to work through word studies, they can improve your Bible Study.

Give Them Resources

While I may not be big on Bible studies, I am willing to provide my children with whatever they need to help them. Some of my kids like reading through Bible studies and talking about their “take away,” while another one prefers to read on his own. Whatever they choose, I want them to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want them to have their own faith, not mine or my husbands. So, I will provide them with whatever helps them learn best.

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