online bible concordance

Do Your Kids Know How to Use a Concordance?

By Kathy Vincent

In my seminars, I often ask the audience to raise their hands if their children know how to use a library. The majority often lifts their hands and I usually hear one or two, “Of course, they know how to use the library!” I then ask them to raise their hands if their children know how to use their Bible’s concordance. Sadly, by far, the minority raises their hands to this request followed by sheepish grins and the lowering of eyes to the ground.

Hear (or in this case, read) this statement: If your child can use a library, he can learn to use his concordance. In my mind, it is absolutely essential to being a reader of God’s amazing Word! Yet, the concordance, for many, remains unopened and unused. So, what is a concordance? I give my kids this simple definition: The concordance is a kind of dictionary that helps us find the “address” or reference of a Scripture by looking up the most prominent word of a verse. For example, let’s say you want to find a verse about God’s love. You can turn to the back of your Bible (where most concordances are found) and look up the word “love“. There will be snippets of many verses to choose from because love is such a widely used word in the Bible, but it will be a great place to start.

Or perhaps you have memorized a verse, but don’t remember where it is found in the Bible. Choose the most important word in the verse, look it up in the concordance and “scroll” down the verses given. Soon, you should be able to find the verse you were looking for from the snippets the concordance provides for that word. If you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up to receive Scripture Lady’s Free Email Newsletter packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE Bible Review Games to help get the kids you minister to excited about the Bible!