Bible Verses About Children

What are some of the key Bible verses about children? Children are the reward of one’s youth. Happy, or blessed, is the man who has a quiver full of them. We hear statements like this nearly every father’s day among the many Bible verses about children. But what does it mean? And, how much is a quiver full?

The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. — Psalms 127:3-5 (NKJV)

The quiver was a bag that either attached to the belt, or more commonly was strapped to the back to carry arrows. When strapped to the back, the warrior could easily reach the bag, and with one quick motion have the next arrow ready. In the mind of a warrior, running out of arrows in the midst of battle was not a pleasant thought.

Solomon, considered the author of Psalm 127, likened children to a quiver full of arrows. Had seven boys been born instead of eight, David would never have been anointed as king. Multiple children in the days of Solomon meant that there would always be a successor to take over family affairs when the parents died. Multiple children meant the fields would be tended, cattle and sheep cared for, and the land would be defended if an outsider attacked. Multiple children were considered a crown, a sign of strength and power. But how big is a quiver supposed to be in the twenty-first century?

Key Bible Verses About Children

Perhaps the answer is not to dwell on the number of children, but whether we are raising God-honoring, faithful children in our quiver. Would it be better to have one straight arrow in the quiver or four bent ones that will miss the target every time? Consider these Bible verses about children:

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. — Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. — Deuteronomy 31:13 (NIV)

All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be their peace. — Isaiah 54:13 (NIV)

Corporal punishment and correction produce wisdom, but a child left to follow his own willful way shames his mother. — Proverbs 29:15 (The Voice)

Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them. — Proverbs 13:24 (NIV)

Youth reveal their true natures by their actions whether they do what is pure and right or not. — Proverbs 20:11 (The Voice)

By reading these Bible verses about children, we recognize that God is more interested in Godliness than he is in numbers. Whether one child, or twenty, the focus must not be on the size of the family, but on the faithfulness of our children.

Applying Bible Verses About Children

James Dobson accurately asserts, “Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built.”

This foundation is built not only through what we say as much as it is through the way in which we live.

Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents…. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy. – Billy Graham

Bible Verses About Children – The Apostle Paul summed it up this way, “So imitate God. Follow Him like adored children, and live in love as the Anointed One loved you—so much that He gave Himself as a fragrant sacrifice, pleasing God.” — Ephesians 5:1-2 (The Voice)

There is just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go and that is to travel that way yourself. — Abraham Lincoln

Ephesians 6:4 in the NIV warns, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

History shows that parents who go overboard in their disciplinary measures have children who go equally overboard in the opposite direction. Harsh parents can have lenient children, and so on. This is why the use of Biblical teaching methods is so important.

Let us look upon our children; let us love them and train them as children of the covenant and children of the promise. These are the children of God. — Andrew Murray

Unfortunately, we have heard of the parents who boast that they do not want to force their own beliefs onto their children. Instead, they will wait to let the children decide for themselves. The truth is that holding them back from the truth is to model a life of unbelief. God’s response to this issue would be no different than the lesson taught in the gospels.

Bible Verses About Children – People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. — Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)

As a couple who has successfully navigated the raising of three believing children, my wife and I recognize the challenges that come with having children in today’s society. The cost alone of raising a child is staggering. Parents also face their own personal hardships. It is difficult to maintain faith when jobs disappear, money dries up, marriages dissolve, and society itself counteracts what we teach our children about God. In spite of the pressures, when we remain focused and stay faithful in our own relationship with God, blessed results can follow.

Challenging Bible Verses About Children

Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways. — Proverbs 8:32 (NKJV)

Those of us who have raised our children now rejoice in the promises of Proverbs 17:6.

Bible Verses About Children – Grandchildren are the crowning glory and ultimate delight of old age, and parents are the pride of their children. — Proverbs 17:6(The Voice)

To watch our labors being poured into our children’s children makes a grandparents heart leap for joy. We also recognize that the job of raising our children is never finished. Telling our offspring how to raise their children can cause a division, but counseling our kids when they come to us with their own struggles can bring generations together.

Bible Verses About Children – Your wife will be like a healthy vine producing plenty of fruit, a spring of life in your home. Your children will be like young olive shoots; you will watch them bud and bloom around your table. — Psalms 128:3 (The Voice)

If we can learn anything from science it is that the process of bringing a life into existence is tremendously challenging. Many couples find they cannot bear children. There are emerging ways to deal with the issue, but we can explore one possibility by returning to the picture of the arrows and quiver. Consider a soldier in battle, who finds his quiver to be empty. Might he be willing to fill his quiver with someone else’s arrows? Beautiful families are created when loving couples expand their family with adopted children. Think of it as grafting new shoots into an established tree. The new shoot takes its nourishment from the host tree, and its fruit still brings glory to the tree.

Whether the children we raise are biological or adopted, raising them to be faithful followers of Christ is the most important principle of all.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous—it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. — Elizabeth Stone