The 14 Things Every Kid Needs to Learn About Faith

You want to raise a kid who loves Jesus, but the Bible is enormous and you are one tired parent in a minivan, so where do you even start. Here is the honest answer we built this whole thing on: your kid does not need to master everything at once. There are really just a handful of big things a child needs to carry into the world, and once you can see them, the pressure lets up.

Every single Carpooling with Jesus episode we make is built on one of fourteen themes. Not fourteen random topics. Fourteen things that, taken together, cover what a kid actually needs to know about God, about other people, and about themselves. When you know the fourteen, you stop feeling like you are behind. You start seeing that a car ride to soccer can teach one of them.

What should I actually be teaching my kid about God?

Here they are, the fourteen we come back to again and again.

Kindness and love. Treating people the way Jesus treats them, especially the kid nobody sits with.

Courage and fear. Doing the scary thing because God is with them, not because they feel brave.

Friendship. Being the kind of friend they wish they had.

Wisdom and choices. Learning to pause and pick the good thing when no adult is telling them to.

Emotions and hard situations. Knowing that big feelings are not sins and God is not scared of them.

Prayer. Talking to God like He is actually listening, because He is.

Forgiveness. Both sides of it, saying sorry and letting go.

Honesty and truth. Telling the truth even when a lie would be easier.

Trusting God. Believing He is good and He is working, even on the days that fall apart.

Identity. Knowing who they are because of who God says they are, not because of a score or a group text.

Gratitude and thankfulness. Noticing the good instead of always reaching for the next thing.

Everyday life. Seeing that chores, boredom, and Tuesday afternoons all belong to God too.

Family. Practicing love in the hardest place to practice it, at home.

Bible basics. The real stories, the real Jesus, told straight.

Notice what is not on this list. There is no fourteen point theology exam. There is no age at which your kid is suddenly finished. These are not boxes to check. They are more like fourteen muscles, and a kid grows them the same way they grow any muscle, a little at a time, over years, mostly in ordinary moments.

Why this is good news for you

Moses told parents to talk about God "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:7). He did not say hold a seminar. He said use the road you are already on. That is the whole idea. You do not have to be a Bible scholar to raise a kid who loves Jesus. You have to keep showing up in the small moments and pointing to one true thing at a time.

So pick one. This week, do not try to cover all fourteen. Just notice which one your kid is living right now. A hard goodbye at camp is a courage week. A blowup with a sibling is a forgiveness week. A long boring afternoon is an everyday life week. Name it, talk about it once in the car, and let it go. That is discipleship. It is not a lecture, it is a thousand small deposits.

We built the fourteen so that no parent ever has to wonder if they are teaching the right things. You are. If you love your kid and keep pointing them back to Jesus in the everyday stuff, you are hitting all fourteen without even trying.

Talk it over

Press play with your kids this week. These episodes go straight to the heart of what we just talked about.

Doing Hard Things When Nobody's Checking (Colossians 3:23). A clear picture of the everyday life theme, doing right when no one is watching.

When You're Scared to Try (Isaiah 41:10). The courage theme in action, being brave because God is with you.

Taste and See That God Is Good (Psalm 34:8). Gratitude, learning to notice the good God hands you every day.