What Is Education & What Are the Top 6 Goals of Educating Generations for Christ?

Q: What is education?

Let’s begin by defining it. According to Noah Webster, the father of American Christian education, “Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”

Q: In light of this Scripturally-based definition, what are the 6 most important goals of Christian education?

Jesus tells us: “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent.” – Jn 17:3

The most important task and the primary purpose of every Christian parent is to educate their children for God. The educational role of parents can be briefly summarized in the following 6 goals:

1. to teach their children that the purpose of their lives and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, to love and serve God wholeheartedly, and to know His voice;

2.  to form godly character by depositing in them moral virtue and forming godly habits, while reproving and correcting the temper;

3.  to train them in the art of Christian self-government so that they are governed internally by the Spirit of God;

4.  to renew their minds with the Word of God and train them in Biblical scholarship;

5.  to assist them in developing a truly Christ-centered Biblical worldview;

6.  to train them in wisdom, knowledge, and discernment so as to equip them to fulfill their Providential purpose in God’s Kingdom.

Our chief aim as Christian parents is to lay Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments as the only foundation of all wisdom, knowledge, and learning. Our long-term vision is to perpetuate our faith and the covenant we have with God to our children and to teach them to pass it on from generation to generation. This is what it means to educate children for God. Have you ever wondered why God chose Abraham to be the father of faith? Genesis 18:19 tells us, “For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken to him.”  In other words, God chose Abraham because He knew that Abraham would be faithful to teach his children to keep the covenant with God and perpetuate their faith from generation to generation.

In Psalm 78:5-7, we find this same generational vision: “For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”  We see here that God Almighty commands fathers to teach their children His commandments and His works, so that their faith and obedience to God was passed on perpetually from generation to generation.

Thank you for visiting my blog on Preparing parents for their primary purpose educating children for God. This is Josiah Friberg asking you to check back often for my most recent Christian education postings on Christian schools, homeschooling, and the dangers of public schools. Consider adding my RSS FEED so you can keep up to date on godly alternatives to public schools. This article was posted by Josiah Friberg on his Christian Education blog: www.alleducationisreligious.blogspot.com. For assistance, contact Exodus Mandate at: Click here - ExodusMandate.org