The Spiritual Benefits Of Homeschooling Your Children

When it comes to homeschooling, people often talk about the academic and relational benefits. However, the spiritual benefits of homeschooling are what we’re going to discuss today – along with the best way to ensure your children are growing in their relationship with Jesus. 

Disciple

As Christian parents, the spiritual health of our children should be top priority. Of course, we want them to have a good education, close friendships, widespread hobbies and interests, etc. But above all else, we need to disciple our children each and every day, so that they personally desire a relationship with Jesus. Homeschooling provides the perfect opportunity and training ground for this. Not because we try to keep them from the “real world” and protect them from all negative influences. Most homeschooling parents do not have that as their motivation (although protection from SOME influences are crucial). But rather, because it gives children a chance to develop the spiritual strength and critical thinking needed to face the harshness of today’s world. 

Protect

Right now, there is an attack on the mental health of our children. The public school system is pushing ideas and lifestyles on young children that they have no place pushing. More and more parents are upset about this, and not just “religious families”. Children are extremely vulnerable. And unfortunately, a lot of the messaging that these children are being fed, is detrimental to their mental, emotional, and spiritual health. 

One of the many advantages of homeschooling is being able to shelter your kids while they’re young. Yes, I said shelter. That is not a bad thing! The idea of sheltering our children has been given a very bad name. But isn’t it our job as parents to protect our children from harm? And when we have the ability to protect them from something that is hurting them, ESPECIALLY when they’re young, isn’t that a good thing? I firmly believe that it is. 

Growing in faith

Homeschooling provides a safe environment for your children to grow and develop their spiritual strength and understanding, so that they can better handle the attacks thrown at them from the world. Giving your children a strong foundation of faith, and approaching the realities of our culture today from a Biblical worldview, will only benefit them, not harm them. 

Does this mean they are guaranteed to follow Christ their whole life and never sin? Of course not! Sadly, sin is part of this world and our children will continue to deal with sin their whole life –  whether following Christ or not. And nothing WE do will guarantee that they choose Jesus. That choice is theirs to make, and theirs alone. However, a very real spiritual benefit of homeschooling is the time we get to spend pouring into our children and instilling God’s word into their hearts and minds. 

Homeschool life provides a unique opportunity to allow our kids to get their footing and establish the foundation of their faith without constant peer pressure and negative influences. And I’ll let you in on a little secret – homeschooling is absolutely beautiful. I can’t even begin to count how many impromptu spiritual conversations I’ve had with my 5 and 10 year old children. Chances are, many of these conversations would not have happened if they were out of the house at public school every day. 

Every time these little chats occur, I thank God quietly in my heart for the TIME homeschooling gives me to talk to them about these topics. Because homeschooling allows for such a flexible schedule, we can choose to stop what we’re doing and just talk. And we have done that, many many times! 

I’ve seen my young children, even my 5 year old, light up with joy at the truth of God’s love for them. I’ve seen them shed tears while the Holy Spirit moves in their heart. They have asked some very deep and very real questions about heaven, death, Jesus’s death on the cross, and more. As a parent, spending quality time every single day with my children, and pouring into their own spiritual life is paramount. Homeschooling gives us that opportunity.

Be the influence

Because of how the school system is designed, children are away from their parents and being taught/influenced by others for a good chunk of their waking hours. Thankfully, there are lots of absolutely wonderful school teachers out there, some Christian and some not, who truly care about their students and want to see them flourish. Let me make it clear that I do not hold the viewpoint that all teachers and all traditional school settings are “bad”. I really don’t feel that way.

I know for a fact that there have been incredible teachers who have made positive impacts on the lives of their students, and that’s wonderful. But, when it comes to spiritually discipling your children, that job belongs to the parents. Yes children can, and hopefully will, have other adults in their life who are setting positive Christian examples for them. But it’s the parents who they look to FIRST for answers. And one thing I’ve discovered throughout our own homeschooling journey is that through spending so much time together, conversations pop up that often would be lost otherwise. 

The Bible says, in Deuteronomy 11:18-19:

• ^​You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

To me, this portion of scripture is instructing us parents to be the primary spiritual teachers and helpers for our children – meaning, it’s OUR job. We have to take this seriously and use our very lives to demonstrate the love of Christ to them. Again, I’m not stating that parents who send their kids to public school can’t achieve this also. I’m simply stating that there absolutely are spiritual benefits to homeschooling, and the ability for parents to be able to be the primary influence in their child’s life, is one of them. 

Spiritual Warfare

I believe that young people need time to grow in their faith before they can start standing up for it. Some Christian parents believe that sending their children to public school means they will be a light in the darkness, and be able to share their faith with others. And although that may be true at times, I personally don’t believe that young children are capable of going to war. And let’s face it, spiritual warfare is real and the Bible is very clear on that. The Bible tells us to put on the whole armour of God, so that we can stand against evil. 

Ephesians 6:10-18 says:

• ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Just like a seedling needs to be nurtured and sheltered from the harsh weather before being planted out into the ground, so do children need to be sheltered and nurtured in their faith before they are able to stand up to the harshness of this world.

When we choose to homeschool our children, we aren’t aiming to shelter them from the world in order to give them false realities. We are sheltering them from what we KNOW they are not yet ready to withstand! All while purposely taking extra time to nurture them in their faith. This means answering questions, setting aside the homeschool schedule to have a conversation, and most importantly, modeling what it means to follow Jesus.

I talk more about this in my article on reasons why you should homeschool your children. You can find that here.

Benefits the whole family

Of all the benefits of Christian homeschooling, (and there are many), seeing your children root themselves in Christ is at the top of the list. Yes, they will still make mistakes. And yes, they will still face temptation. Those things are inevitable in this world, and we must be careful not to view homeschooling as the “saviour” for our kids. There is only one Saviour and His name is Jesus. But, homeschooling absolutely helps set your children up for a stronger foundation in their faith because they can develop their “spiritual muscles” without all the confusion and attacks that are ever present in the school systems today. 

There are also spiritual benefits of homeschooling that don’t only apply to your children, but rather the entire family. Here are some that I’ve seen in our home:

• Closer family relationships
• Extra time for Bible study
• Growing the entire family’s faith
• Increased value placed on family life and time together

These are only a few of the benefits we have seen in our life since starting our homeschooling journey. God has used our homeschool time together to bless each and every member of our family. My faith has grown while discipling my children. I also feel a higher sense of accountability when it comes to spending time in God’s word, because I’m so aware of the little eyes that are watching me. 

There really are so many great reasons to homeschool your children –  providing a supportive environment, improving your child’s education, developing a love of learning, special needs within your home, etc. But the spiritual growth and development of your children should be top priority, above all else. 

The Key To It All

Now, remember how I stated that I would share the best way to ensure your children are growing in their relationship with Jesus? Well, the best way to make that happen is to invite Him into your home, every single day. Ask the Holy Spirit for the wisdom needed, and to make things clear when confusion hits. God honours His promises, and His word clearly states “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20) He will be there with you, in the trenches of everyday life, equipping you with exactly what you need. And He will do the same for your children. 

The best way to set them up for success in “real life” is to model a dependency on the Lord. Math, spelling, reading….those are all important parts of your children’s education. But teaching them to rely on God and His Holy Spirit to guide their steps is the single most important lesson they could learn to equip them for this world. 

Lean on the Lord and trust that He will keep His promises and He will show up. He loves your children even more than you do, and His desire is for them to be with Him for all eternity. So take time every day to pray and ask God to reveal Himself to your children. Ask Him to give you the words to say when they have tough questions. And trust that even though you don’t have it all together, He does! 

Blessings!

~Maryann

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