How to Encourage Teens to Study the Bible
Teens are reluctant to do anything perceived as being non-essential. So if it is your earnest desire for anybody to encourage your teens to study the Bible, the encourager should embody two necessary attributes. An encourager needs to be a person your teens respect. Bible study needs to be understood and central to the encourager's life. If you can't find someone that embodies these traits, consult your local church teen group or ministry or believing friends. Your teens may have peers that are already involved in constructive Bible study.
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Instructions
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Discuss why people study the Bible as a strategy for life. Talk about the development of a joyful and fulfilling relationship with God, who provides them with Eternal Life and an abundant, satisfying life here on Earth.
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Explain that the Bible is centered on the fulfilled prayer of Jesus Christ, embodied in the Gospel of John Chapter 17: "I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." This core assertion will provide them with the perspective they need to understand the rest of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, as being supportive of it.
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Suggest that they start with the four Gospels in the New Testament in this recommended order: Gospels of John, Matthew, Luke, Mark; the Book of Acts; I Corinthians, Romans, Galatians and then the remainder of the New Testament.
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Include short readings in the Old Testament as they become familiar with the New Testament, such as single chapters each day in Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Genesis, Exodus and the Major and Minor prophets.
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Encourage study aids such as daily devotionals and specific prayer time each day. Help them find a Bible-teaching church and friends that study the Bible too.
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Tips & Warnings
Tell them that God loves them and sent His Son to die to end the separation between God and Mankind. Take advantage of the opportunity to make daily Bible study a part of your family's life and time together.
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Comments
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@Alastair: It seems you decided to ignore the use of the words: encourage, discuss, and suggest in this article. How you perceive this as a method of pushing them along or shoving something down their throats is a bit of a mystery to me as the tone and language of this article is far from anything resembling authoritarian behavior. And I also wonder how your kids are going to learn how to make a stand for what they believe when you profess to not caring about what they believe. If you don't care why should they?
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Alastair Pickering
Oct 27, 2010
I suppose this article is good if your child is religious and you're just trying to push them along. Nonetheless. Parents, you have 2 choices: 1) A devout religious child that will never pass yr 5 biology. 2) A child that will make their own religious understandings and will not resent what you try to shove down their throats. On a side-note, I do not care if my children are Christians, Buddhists, Satanists or Atheists. They can believe what they want so long as they do uphold their beliefs, and they can say that they are happy as a result.
