Training a child is both challenging and rewarding. By shaping their underlying belief system, you help their developing brain establish permanent neural pathways that will guide their moral and spiritual growth. Neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, authors of Born to Believe, tell us the most crucial years are from age seven to ten. That’s when a child has the greatest propensity to understand the concept of a God they can’t see, feel, or hear. What an ideal opportunity! Newberg and Waldman also suggest that our most effective tool for belief building at this stage is storytelling, not preaching or moralising. Stories that incorporate godly principles, moral behaviours, courage, faith, love, compassion, and forgiveness are welcomed, easily digested ingredients for building Christian character. Storytelling was how God instructed the Israelites to teach their children His ways and Word. Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Daniel, Esther, Samson, Ruth, and David; of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection; of Jesus walking on the sea, raising the dead, and feeding the five thousand, stir the hearts, interest, and imagination of young children and impart enduring, life-changing principles! In fact, studies show that the belief systems of adults are powerfully influenced by stories they heard growing up. Implant stories that will become the underpinning for their character and the basis for a lifetime of faith. As a parent, carer, or teacher, it’s your job to encourage and stimulate their developing brain towards godly beliefs, decisions, and lifestyle!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.