Developing an Appetite for God: Training Children in Biblical Faith
- Travis Maxey
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
In a world filled with distractions and competing voices, one of the greatest challenges facing Christian families today is cultivating a genuine hunger for God in both parents and children. The biblical foundation for this calling is found in Deuteronomy 6, where God gives clear instructions about passing faith to the next generation.
What Does It Mean to Love God Wholeheartedly?
The Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, declares: "Listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength." This isn't a casual suggestion—it's a command that requires complete devotion.
5-day devotional:
The Foundation Must Start with Parents
Before we can pass faith to our children, we must possess it ourselves. You cannot give away something you don't have. If parents don't have a living, abiding relationship with the Lord—one characterized by wholehearted devotion rather than half-hearted commitment—they cannot transmit that faith to their children.
This means no more living with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. God calls for complete surrender of our affections, love, mind, and heart to Him.
How Do We Develop an Appetite for God?
The mind is fascinating in how it creates pathways for information we consume regularly. Just as binge-watching a TV series can cause you to think about those characters throughout your day, saturating ourselves with God's truth creates mental pathways that bring Him to the forefront of our thoughts.
Practical Steps for Spiritual Saturation
Deuteronomy 6:7-9 provides the blueprint: "Repeat them again and again to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are on the road and when you're going to bed and when you're getting up. Tie them around your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them down on the doorpost of your house and on your gates."
This means:
Deep devotion to Scripture
Submission to the church
Fellowship with other believers
Constant reminders of God's presence
Conversations about God throughout daily life
What Does "Their God is Their Appetite" Mean?
Philippians 3:18-19 warns of those "whose conduct show they are really enemies of the cross of Christ... their God is their appetite." This doesn't refer to food, but to what we consume mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
We Worship What We Consume
The truth is simple yet profound: we worship what we consume, and we crave what we consume. If you followed anyone around for a period of time, you could determine what they worship by observing what they consistently consume—whether that's entertainment, news, social media, or spiritual content.
How Do We Train Children in the Way They Should Go?
Proverbs 22:6 states: "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he's old, he will not depart from it." The Hebrew word for "train" means to dedicate them to a narrow path, to put something into their mouths to be tasted, to instruct and initiate.
Giving Children an Appetite for God
The phrase "he should go" literally translates to "the way of their mouth." This means we're to dedicate our children to the narrow path by giving them an appetite for God—helping them taste and see that the Lord is good.
When children develop this appetite for God's goodness, they naturally reject the world's offerings because they've experienced something far better.
Why Do Children Ask Questions About Faith?
Deuteronomy 6:20 anticipates this: "And in the future, your children will ask you, what is the meaning of these laws, decrees and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?"
Living Distinctly Different Lives
When families live in a way that's distinctly different from the world around them, children notice. They see the contrast between their family's values and the world's values, prompting them to ask why their family lives differently.
This creates teachable moments where parents can share their testimony: "We were slaves to sin, but the Lord brought us out with His strong hand. He rescued us from death and destruction and set us free to love and serve Him."
What Needs to Be Removed from Our Lives?
The world is not our friend. It constantly pulls us away from God, telling us that sin is appropriate in certain situations and that God isn't as holy as He truly is.
Practical Steps for Purging
Anything in our lives that draws us away from God needs to be cut off immediately.
This might include:
Entertainment that doesn't honor God
Books that don't direct us toward Christ
Technology that becomes a stumbling block
Images or decorations that distract from worship
Behaviors that don't reflect Christ's character
The Father's Responsibility
Men, as heads of households, bear the primary responsibility for removing anything that might distract children or prevent them from developing an appetite for God. This includes evaluating books, entertainment, decorations, and family practices.
How Do We Prepare the Next Generation?
For young men preparing for marriage and family, the time to establish boundaries is now. Decide what will and won't be allowed in your future home. Determine that only things breathing spiritual life into your family will cross your threshold.
As you grow in your relationship with the Lord, that line should move further from worldly influences and closer to God.
Life Application
This week, conduct a thorough evaluation of your home and life. What needs to be purged? What entertainment, books, decorations, or habits are hindering rather than helping your family's walk with Christ?
Remember, these might not be "bad" things by the world's standards, but if they're not directing your family toward God's character, they may need to go. The goal isn't to avoid only the worst influences, but to embrace only what builds an appetite for God.
Ask yourself these questions:
Am I developing wholehearted devotion to the Lord, or am I living with divided loyalties?
What am I consuming that's creating pathways in my mind toward or away from God?
How is my lifestyle creating questions in my children about why we live differently from the world?
What specific items or influences in my home need to be removed this week to better cultivate an appetite for God in my family?
The challenge is clear: develop an insatiable appetite for God yourself, then create an environment where your children can taste and see that the Lord is good. When they encounter the world's offerings, they'll reject them because they've experienced something infinitely better.
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