The primary responsibility for providing children with a quality Christian education belongs to the parents. A child’s education is to be rooted in a Christian view of life and must be God-centered with the Bible as the foundation and guide. Bible-believing parents are commanded to demonstrate a lifestyle of character, leadership, service, stewardship, and worship, as they model the example of God’s Son to their children. However, since Adam and Eve, every parent has continued to rebel and fall short of living as God desires. Thankfully, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8b). He has also provided Christian parents with a way to teach these vital characteristics to their children by using the Bible as a textbook.
Though parents have the largest responsibility in educating children based on God’s Word, teachers also play a vital role in providing a quality Christian education. Like parents, teachers must model Christ in their teaching and leading. The foundation of a Christian educator’s work is to nurture the lives of students by guiding them to reach their full potential in Christ. In addition, Christian teachers are responsible to prepare students for life with rigorous academic development in the fields of mathematics, science, history, language, and the arts.
The most important tool parents and teachers have been given to educate children is the Bible. The Word of God provides the basis for a quality Christian education. Proverbs 1:7a says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” God is therefore central to the development of character. The ultimate objective of Christian education is that God will be recognized and obeyed in all areas of life. Regardless of the class or subject, Christian education looks to the Bible for absolute truths.
The success of a Christian education is determined by whether or not students are prepared to live a lifetime of Christian service. Christian schools must educate children in a way that helps them reflect the knowledge learned during their preschool through high school education and discover their call of obedience to God. Students must be taught to respond to their own unique abilities, needs, and sinfulness with an obedient response to the Lord. They must know and fully accept the Bible’s words, and then go out into the public and professional world to serve Christ. By living in Christian service, they will strive to love everyone and seek to transform today’s sinful, self-seeking culture into a world that praises God and not the accomplishments of mankind.
Surely, a quality Christian education is the most valuable gift any child can receive. Through the guidance of Christian parents and teachers, children will become mature Christians, devoted to a life of loving “the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37b), and more reflective of Christ’s love that dwells within them.
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