David asked what every Christian parents asks, “How can I make sure my child lives right in a wicked world?” He then gives us the answer.
How can a young person keep his life pure? He can do it by holding on to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. – Psalm 119:9, 11
This tells me it’s crucial we get large doses of God’s Word into our kids. I have further evidence of the power of this in my life and the lives of my kids – all of whom have been infused with large doses of God’s Word.
But here is what you might find surprising.
I’m in ministry. I regularly study God’s Word myself. But most of the Scripture our kids have memorized came because of Christian schools – and short periods of mission-field Christian homeschooling.
Like many of you, we couldn’t afford it. All of their years growing up we didn’t have health insurance. We had very meager savings. We drove cars that often required as much prayer as gas. But we felt those and other sacrifices were worth it.
Our kids didn’t play big time high school sports, weren’t in a large marching band, didn’t cut up freeze-dried cats in amazing science labs and didn’t even know what a “homecoming” was. But if you ask them they’ll tell you they didn’t miss anything.
We have no regrets and believe much of our kids’ passion for the Lord is because their schools were reinforcing what we did at home, not systematically tearing it down on a daily basis.
The greatest single eternal investment you can make is in Christian education – either through a truly Christian school or through quality homeschooling.
I appreciate Christian teachers who see themselves as missionaries in public schools. They have a daunting task and government schools are one of today’s great mission fields.
It’s great if your child gets one of these missionary teachers. But that teacher can’t teach God’s Word, help your children memorize Scripture, openly share their faith and how it applies to struggles your children are having. They can’t approach every subject from the perspective of “What does God say about Math, Science, Geography, History, Marriage, Relationships, etc.”
I believe if you want to get your kids into Christian school God will make a way. It may mean you don’t get the new big screen TV. It might even mean you drop cable and go to a cheaper cell phone plan. But I guarantee the eternal future of your children is worth it – even if you have to go to the public library to check your email.
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