Okay, we want to teach wisdom to our children. Good goal to have, but where do we start? First, we must be truly converted. It’s not enough to attend church and say the right words. Conversion is new life, new direction, new thoughts, new desires. Christ touches our soul and changes it from the inside out. He makes us new and real.

Teaching Wisdom

In order to teach children about wisdom, we must be wise in the things of God. We must know Him intimately and understand His ways completely. When we face difficulties beyond our understanding, we must know how to go to God and His Word and receive His Wisdom to deal with those difficulties, problems and challenges in life and ministry. We must be filled with the joy of God. Our hearts should be filled and overflowing with the joy of loving, knowing, worshiping and serving God. We must be enlightened. We must know the path of God, be able to walk it securely and lead others in the way of righteousness.

This sounds like a mighty big task to me. It seems greater than any human being could take on by themselves. It is. It is bigger than one person. That is the wonderful message of Christ: we are not walking alone. We are not serving alone. He is with us every step of the way. Christ is our great Master. He is our Divine Teacher. He is All-Powerful and All-Knowing. He walked the path before us. He can guide us through anything and everything that will come into our lives. He is the Wisdom of God.

Christ’s Life and Words while on earth, His Words through His disciples after He returned to Heaven, they are our wisdom, our guide through life. As we listen and obey we will know what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Christ will answer our every question. He will meet our every need. And it is as we depend on Christ to guide us that we will know how to guide those we teach.

Christ faced life’s most difficult moments with great wisdom, strength and courage. His Life and how He responded to temptations and tests will guide us now through the soul-mines of life. The first thing Christ did after beginning His official ministry was to face the great enemy of God, Satan.

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:1-10

Jesus faced Satan and defeated him long before we started out on the path. Christ has already defeated the enemy. We don’t have to worry or fret about facing Satan alone. Nothing will happen to us that Jesus has not dealt with successfully. We will not stumble upon some new problem or challenge that will surprise and confuse God. Christ faced everything Satan had in his arsenal of tricks and won the battle! Jesus wants us to follow Him and become like Him. He is our wisdom. He is our strength.

Notice the four things Christ did and said when facing the enemy.

  • OBEY GOD
  • TRUST GOD
  • WORSHIP GOD
  • SERVE GOD

Look through the entire Bible and you’ll find these four principles of wisdom in every Book and every chapter: obey God, trust God, worship God, serve God. If we wake up every morning and conduct our life on these four principles, we will be wise and able to teach wisdom to our children.

Practical Steps to Gaining Wisdom:

Read about wisdom in God’s Word every day. Here are several methods for doing that. You might want to take each idea for a year and complete all the methods in seven years. When you complete that, start again. It can become a life-long study about wisdom.

  • Read through the Book of Proverbs each month for one year. The purpose of Proverbs is explained in the first several verses of the first chapter: “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.” Proverbs has 31 chapters, so it’s easy to do that. You may enjoy it so much you’ll want to do that each year for several years. Select one or two verses from each day’s chapter to consider and apply to your life that day.
  • Get one of the flip-card Scripture calendars that has a verse about God’s wisdom for each day of the year. Keep it on your desk, at your computer, in the kitchen, at work, wherever you’ll see it and remember to read the verse for each day. Meditate on that verse throughout the day and apply it to your life that day and the days following.
  • Read a chapter of the Book of Psalms each day. It will take you 150 days: less than six months. You may enjoy it enough to read through the Psalms twice a year. Think about what you learned and apply it to your life that day and the days following.
  • Use a computer search or exhaustive concordance to find every usage of the words wise and wisdom in the Bible. Develop a personal Bible study based on what you learn about wisdom. Read two verses each day and you’ll finish the study in one year. Apply what you learn to your life each day.
  • Read a chapter of the Gospels each day for one year. You’ll read through the Gospels four times. Keep notes about the Wisdom of Christ. Think about something He said or did each day and apply the truth to your life.
  • Read a chapter from the Apostlic letters each day. Consider one major truth from each chapter and apply it to your life. You’ll be able to read through Acts and the Pauline and General Epistles twice a year.
  • Do a year-long study about the lives of people in the Bible. Start with Adam and Eve and work your way through each person God mentions. Think about what you learn from each individual’s life and choices and apply the insights to your life.
  • Keep a journal with notes about what you learned about wisdom during your studies. Note what the Bible says, how you apply the truth to your life and what you are learning. You can review the notes throughout your life and use them in your ministry with children.

May God richly bless you as you prepare your heart, mind and soul to teach wisdom to the precious children in your life.