Children Listen

Most parents have learned, either from personal experience or from other parents’ mortifying stories, that our children listen to us. And they repeat what they hear.

But let’s take it a step further: our children listen to what we listen to. I’m not condemning anyone for listening to secular music; it is so cute hearing little ones sing “Shake it off” and lots of other catchy tunes. We listen to a variety of genres at times in our household. But let me tell ya, if you want your heart to swell, you should hear your children sing “I’m unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ” or “Praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

By listening to Christian music and learning the lyrics, they are additionally learning scripture and the art of praise. And if children are going to be repeating what they hear in our presence, the messages in these songs are something we can be grateful to hear them saying. Moreover, these songs provide great opportunities for character building conversations.

For instance, one afternoon Ladd asked, “Why on Earth would anyone be glad they had to walk through fire?” (Ben Fuller- “Walk Through Fire “).
I answered that the song also says, “Every flame forged my faith,” which symbolizes how our faith grows and gets stronger when we rely on God to get us through the hard times, and we can be thankful for anything that grows our faith.

Another example is when Lillian asked me what the lyrics meant that say, “Could it really be this easy, that You love me like You say You do” (Patrick Mayberry- “How You Love Me”). This led us to a discussion of how God loves us just the way we are, and nothing we do could ever make Him love us more or less.

I’m so thankful for the people God has gifted to sing a new song, that those people are obedient in sharing their gift, and that my children are learning the principles of what it means to live a life centered on God’s Word because of hearing their messages.

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.

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