The Foundation Before the Formula: Starting With the Shema

If you have spent any time around young children, you already know this truth: they do not do what you say nearly as well as they do what you do. The Shema — this ancient Jewish declaration that has been prayed and recited for thousands of years — does not begin with instructions for raising children. It begins with God. "The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Before it is a parenting plan, the Shema is a confession of faith. Before it tells you what to teach, it tells you who to love.

This sequence is not accidental. The most critical element in a Christian home is not curriculum or consistency or even intentionality — though all of those matter. It is the living faith of the parents themselves. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot teach as a living reality what you only practice as a religious routine. The home described in Deuteronomy 6 is not a classroom with lesson plans and scheduled devotional times. It is a life saturated in the love of God, spilling naturally into every conversation — sitting at the table, walking down the road, lying down at night, rising in the morning.

Jesus himself was raised in a home shaped by this passage, and the result, as Luke tells us, is that he grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with both God and man. That outcome did not begin with a parenting strategy. It began with a household that loved the Lord. Start there today. Not with a new plan or a new program. Start by asking yourself honestly: Is the Lord my God? And is that love visible in my home?

Reflect:
If your children were asked to describe what you love most, what do you think they would say? What does your daily life tell them about who and what you value?

Pray:
Father, before I try to teach my children anything about You, help me to love You myself — with all my heart, soul, and strength. Make my home a place where faith is lived, not just recited. Begin with me. Amen.