Studies have shown that infants can learn. In fact, they can learn things even before they’re born. In-utero response is an establish fact. A fetal child will respond favorably to the voice of the mother or father – even while in the mother’s womb.
How early should you teach your child the ways of the Lord? Well, the scriptures seem to indicate that you should do it as soon as they are born – maybe even before they are born.
In 2 Timothy 3:14-15, Paul reminds Timothy of the important training he received as a child. He says, “But continue thou in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.
Now the interesting thing about these verses is the fact that the word for “child” is actually the Greek word for “infant” – that span of time between conception and the toddler stage. This is the word used in Luke 1:41 to describe what happened when Mary visited Elizabeth. The verse says, “And it came to pass that, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb…” Now what actually happened is the babe in Elizabeth’s womb responded to Christ is Mary’s womb. Well, the word for “babe” here is the same word used in 2 Timothy 3:15. Only in Luke 1, the babe is still in the uterus.
So the point of Paul to Timothy was that his mother Eunice had taught him the Holy Scriptures from the time he was an infant. No wonder Timothy was such a great man of God. It all went back to what his mother did when he was just an infant.
Say! It’s never too early to start teaching the Bible to your children. You can even begin reading the Bible to them before they are born.