The heart is a very special place. It’s the place of our inner-most being where passions, desires and interests are formed. It’s also a place that needs protecting. As a parent, it’s our responsibility to teach our kids to guard their hearts.
But how do we do this big job?
What Is The Heart & How To Understand It
The heart isn’t an easy place to understand, so how can you teach your kids about it especially when it isn’t a physical place that nobody can see?
If you look up what the heart is in the Bible digging deep into the Hebrew or Greek, you’ll find that it means:
- inner-most being
- inclination
- resolution
- determination (of will)
- conscience
- seat of appetites
- passions
These meanings are a lot for an adults and kids to understand.
So, the only way I was able to talk about the heart with my daughter was to say simply, “The heart is the real you. It’s where you decided you like something or don’t like something, where you decided how to treat someone.”
It’s at this point, where it seemed my daughter was starting to catch what the “heart” was. And so we began the journey to look into a few more scriptures to help gain understanding, including the story of David found in 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
How To Teach Kids To Guard Their Heart
Firstly, it’s important for kids to learn what it means to guard their heart and why they need to do so.
A great way to study what it means for kids to guard their heart, based on Proverbs 4:23, is this Treasures In My Heart Bible Study For Kids. The Bible study helps kids to dig deeper into the word, “guard” and then use an activity to illustrate it. Not only that, the Bible study looks into why their heart is important to God and that good treasure is to be stored in it.
Let’s help kids learn how to guard their hearts – the most precious place!
Anchored in Christ,
Melanie