7 Essential Character Traits You Should Teach Your Children

Character traits that are worth developing begin in the home. Our children mirror our words and actions, so we must be intentional about passing along the best Biblically-centered character lessons that we can while we can.

As parents, we have a limited amount of time to build our children up into the people they will one day become. It’s our job to guide them and to pass on the life skills and tools they’ll need throughout life. It’s important that we don’t overlook the intangible things — like good character and faith — while we’re teaching them practical knowledge. We need to reach their hearts as well as their minds.

The best way to teach these kinds of character traits is to model them yourself. Of course we fall short at times, but that’s part of the learning process, too. Here are 7 essential character traits you should teach your children now, preferably by example.

7 Essential Character Traits

Honesty –

Teaching children young that honesty is the best policy builds them up into people in which the world knows they can trust. Honesty is a vital trait in a person of integrity. It seems that few people today can even define the word integrity, let alone exhibit it. Teach your child to be truthful even when the truth is hard.

Perseverance –

We all need to know how to fall but get back up again, and again… and again. Teaching your child not to give up when something is hard or if they fail is an essential skill for life. You are teaching them to work hard and grow each day even in the midst of adversity. Let your child see your struggles in life and let them see you climb above them.

Contentment –

By teaching your child to be content with what they have rather than struggling to keep up with the Joneses, they are more likely to find happiness even in times that are rough when they are older. You want your child to find happiness in what they have rather than chase more, more, more all the time. While ambition can be great it can be all-consuming and take the focus off the things that truly matter most.

Compassion –

Compassion is a lost art. Everyone is concerned with “What’s in it for me?” People no longer think about how the things they do affect others. They don’t think about how others feel or what they need. If we teach compassion to the next generation we can do our own part to change this cycle.

Self-discipline –

Self-discipline is vital to personal growth and development. By modeling self-discipline in daily life for our children we show them how they can better themselves. It’s enriching to set a goal and work toward it, but it requires self-discipline. All of the other attributes rely on self-discipline to take the high road even when others around you don’t. Teaching your child to control him or herself and stick to commitments sets them up for success when they are out on their own.

Kindness –

Kindness is another dying yet vital trait. Basic kindness can go a long way when you find yourself in a tough situation or you come across someone having a bad day. Teaching your child to perform random acts of kindness is a great way to instill this trait in your child.

Gratitude –

An attitude of gratitude is another essential character trait, especially in the Christian life. We always remember to ask for things in prayer, but do we remember to give thanks? Showing thankfulness to those in your life that help you along is important.

You’ll probably recognize some of these essential character traits as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23:

fruit of the spirit - character traits you need to teach your children. heartandsoulhomeschooling.com

When we embrace these Biblical truths and try to uphold them and teach them to our children, life takes on a purpose and a meaning beyond the daily grind. We all want the best for our children, so helping them to build good character is a foundational part of that.

Character Building Resources I Recommend:

Capture your child’s imagination with the delightful Character Builders(tm) series! In these fully-animated episodes, your child will learn valuable lessons about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Includes Character Builders Series: Obedience & Self Control, Goodness & Faith, Honesty & Responsibility, Thankfulness & Gentleness, Sharing & Kindness, Politeness & Joy, Confidence & Love, Patience & Peace.

We’ve used these DVDs since 2008 as part of our Bible time with little ones.

Little Visits with God: My mom read this to me when I was little and now I read it to my daughters. It includes devotional stories that children can easily relate to and apply in their own lives.

Books that Build Character: This is a parent’s guide to books that will help teach character traits and good virtues. It represents both fiction and non-fiction titles, from classics to more contemporary. Children learn a lot through stories and I always encourage reading good books.

A Child’s Book of Character Building: We have book 1 and 2 in this series. They teach character-building lessons through story from a Biblical worldview. Ideal for ages 3-7.

What character traits are you passing on to your children?

7 character traits you want to teach your children. Christian parenting at heartandsoulhomeschooling.com

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Sara

Author/Speaker/Consultant at Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Sara is a homeschool mom to 3 creative girls. She holds a degree in Social Work specializing in early childhood development, which led to her interest in individualized educational options like homeschooling. She believes that learning should be a lifelong adventure, not just a checklist to get through. She is a writer, avid reader, introvert (INFJ), and dreamer of dreams.