Before I get into the reasons to homeschool, let me start by setting the record straight: I am not one of those girls who grew up dreaming about having kids or homeschooling. Quite the opposite. I was more of a Moses type, answering God’s call with, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else (Exodus 4:13).

And while I know homeschooling was the right choice for my family, I know it because it was not my idea; it was God’s. Not everyone is called to homeschool, and not everyone who homeschools should be doing so – or at least, they should be taking it more seriously than they do.

That being said, there are SO many good reasons to homeschool, some of which I touched on in a previous post. But of all the excellent reasons, the most important one is given straight from the mouth of the Almighty. The biggest reason to homeschool is to equip the next generation to truly love, obey, and serve the Lord our God.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

The original Hebrew of this passage brings out a richer context, especially in the first sentence. The Hebrew word translated heart (לבב; levav) was understood a little differently in the culture and context of the time. Nowadays, we think of the heart as the seat of our emotions; i.e. we feel with our heart.

But the Hebrew word connotes not only the idea of emotion, but also of will & desire or determination, of our thinking & reflecting; the seat of intent and understanding.

Depending on the translation, the same word (levav) is translated as mind in Deuteronomy 30:1 & Jeremiah 51:50; as understanding three times in Job (see 12:3, 34:10, 34:34), and even when translated as heart often carries implications of the seat of reasoning, pondering, and decision-making (such as seeking God with all your heart as in Jeremiah 29:13 and others). In 1 Chronicles 22:7, some versions translate it as intended to or wanted to (build the house of God). And these are a mere handful of examples.

Loving God with all our soul is probably more straightforward, though it could be noted the Hebrew (נַפְשְׁ; nephesh) can be translated as breath. Thus, we are to love God with the very breath in our lungs!

Finally, we come to loving Him with all our might. Once again, the Hebrew is a bit different and even translates rather awkwardly. It literally says to love God with all our meod, our very. This word is used in such phrases as tov meod (very good) or gadol meod (very large).

How does one love God with all one’s very-ness? In my mind, I am to love Him with EVERYTHING that is me – all I am and all of it. Thoroughly. Verily, if you will – or one could say with our muchness, to borrow from Tim Burton’s take on the Mad Hatter.

“‎You’re not the same as you were before,” he said. You were much more… muchier… you’ve lost your muchness.”

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 1999 movie

And so far, I’ve not even unpacked how all this ties into homeschooling. That bit is in verse 7: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

And that, my friends, is homeschool in a nutshell. The most significant reason is to give our lives to discipleship of the children God has entrusted to us, knowing full well where they spend eternity is more important than any other lesson. Thus we talk about it throughout the day – an easier task when homeschooling.

Will it mean making temporary and material sacrifices? Yes.

Will it cost you a career? Possibly.

Will it be easy? No.

And will you see guaranteed results, rewards, fruit? Not necessarily.

But if you are called by God to do it, obedience is still the best decision you can make. The results are up to Him. Your job is to do the job He gives you to do with all your will, all your breath, and all your very-ness. Be muchy for Christ, talk about Him incessantly, and let Him do the rest.

Next time, we’ll get into other very practical reasons to homeschool. I look forward to sharing them with you. I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to comment, like, or share if you found this post helpful!