When my four children were all little, I devoured Christian parenting books. I knew that raising them was a sacred task, and the stakes couldn’t be higher—we were shaping their souls for eternity. My bookshelves were lined with wonderful books that helped me think through the goal of parenting and how to raise children to be disciples of Christ. I read books on how to make siblings best friends, how to parent them with grace, and how to discipline their hearts rather than just their behavior.
These were helpful resources that accompanied my Bible study and shaped my thinking about parenting. But now that my kids are all older (late teens and early twenties), and I’m removed from the intense training of the little and middle years, I think raising godly children is simpler than I made it out to be. (Note that I didn’t say easier—just simpler.) God’s design for raising godly children is for us to love him first and primarily and to talk about him all the time with our kids.
The Shema was ancient Israel’s confession of faith, and it instructed parents and children to love God with all their heart, soul, and might, and to carry God’s Word into every nook and cranny of their daily lives. Raising godly children begins with conversations that start crib-side and continue at the dinner table, in the car, and everywhere we go.
So, how do you raise godly children? It starts with parents who love God wholeheartedly and whose love overflows into their conversations. Print off this list of twenty verses to start your study and meditate on the great heritage of faith you get to pass on to your children.
20 Bible Verses About Raising Godly Children
- Genesis 18:19 (ESV)
For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. - Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. - Deuteronomy 11:19 (ESV)
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. - Joel 1:3 (ESV)
Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. - Psalm 78:1-7 (ESV)
A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children. - Psalm 103:13 (ESV)
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. - Proverbs 1:8-9 (ESV)
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. - Proverbs 3:12 (ESV)
For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. - Proverbs 20:7 (ESV)
The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him! - Proverbs 22:15 (ESV)
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. - Proverbs 29:17 (ESV)
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. - Isaiah 49:15 (ESV)
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” - Matthew 18:10 (ESV)
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 19:13-14 (ESV)
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” - Luke 11:11-13 (ESV)
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! - Ephesians 6:4 (ESV)
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 12:14 (ESV)
Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. - 2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV)
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. - 2 Timothy 3:15 (ESV)
And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. - Titus 2:4 (ESV)
And so train the young women to love their husbands and children.
What’s the hum of your home?
Raising godly children is the sacred task of Christian parents. It’s a tough job that requires us to remain dependent on the Lord and to seek his wisdom and grace. It’s not our job to save or change our children, but to point them to the only one who can—Jesus Christ.
Christian parenting books will enrich your life, frame your thinking, or give you ideas for stewarding this role well. But just like the Shema teaches, nothing can replace or match the genuine love of God displayed in your life, lived out before your children. Thankfully, perfection isn’t required. What your kids need is a mom or dad (and hopefully both!) who loves Jesus with their whole hearts and whose love spills over into the daily rhythms of family life.
James K.A. Smith captures this idea well. He wrote, “Every household has a ‘hum,’ and that hum has a tune that is attuned to some end, some telos [or goal]. We need to tune our homes, and thus our hearts, to sing his grace.”
What’s the hum of your home? Tune the melody of your heart to Christ, and by his grace, your kids will pick up the beat.
Cara
Related Posts on Parenting and Motherhood
- The Paradox of Parenting and How to Trust God with Your Children
- The Joy of Abiding in the Seasons of Motherhood
- How Parents Can Pray for Their College-Aged Kids
- 48 Things I’ve Learned About Faith, Marriage, Parenting, and Writing
- What I’ve Learned About the Season of Motherhood
- Teach Us to Number Our Drives, That We May Gain the Hearts of Our Children
- Desiring God: Know Your (Teenage) Child’s Frame
Some of my favorite Parenting Books
- Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp
- Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Hubbard
- Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp
- Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Jusin Whitmel Earley
- Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick
P.S. Parenting issues are dear to my heart, and that’s why in my book The Pursuit of Holy Leisure: Enjoying God in Everyday Places, I have a whole chapter dedicated to passing on our faith to our children. Set to release March 17, 2026, join my mailing list below to get all the latest details and insider info.
