Did you know several research articles claim a child can learn 3-5 languages by age 10? The ability to fluently speak these languages all comes from the subconscious. Mae van Rensburg, in her article “The Subconscious Mind of a Child,” writes:

“From the age of zero to approximately eight, the child develops a library of identifications and associations. Children are very receptive during these ages when their right brains are active and their left brains—which include critical thinking—are not yet fully functional. It is during those formative years that subconscious mind programming naturally occurs.”

What Does This Have to Do with Children’s Pastors?

WAIT. What does this have to do with Children’s Pastors? GOOD QUESTION.

Understanding the importance of how a child’s mind and future personality traits are formed may be useful. Understanding the receptive subconscious and paving a permanent path to GOD is invaluable.

To help you understand, let’s start at the end and work our way back in four scenarios:

1. Unfortunately, a young woman is more likely to be in an abusive relationship if she grew up in an environment where her mother was physically and/or mentally abused by her father.

2. It is quite common for a young man to be mentally and/or physically abusive to his spouse if he grew up in an environment where his mother was physically and/or mentally abused by his father.

3. A young adult is highly susceptible to a drinking problem if they grew up in an environment where one or both parents were alcoholics.

4. Young adults are more likely to live a life of grace, love, and patience if they grew up in a home where their parents were Christ followers and demonstrated grace, love, and patience as they were growing up.

The link in the examples above is what the young children were subjected to during their formative years.

How Children Learn in Early Years

From birth to age three, children primarily absorb information unconsciously, mimicking what they see and learning without conscious effort. This period of unconscious absorption is followed by a conscious stage of development, from around age three to six, where children actively seek and learn new information.

Montessori educator Maria Montessori developed the concept of the “absorbent mind,” which refers to the period when a child's brain is like a sponge, soaking up information from their surroundings. Unconscious absorption describes a child's remarkable capacity to effortlessly absorb information and develop skills from their environment without conscious effort, particularly during the first six years of life.

The Power of the Subconscious

Psychologists say that 90% (or more) of our thoughts and behavior come from our subconscious mind and 10% (or less) from our conscious mind. Did you know the subconscious is so powerful it drives your car?

Ask yourself this:

• How many times did I look at the right-hand mirror driving to work today? You did, but you don’t really remember.
• Have you ever gone out on the weekend, headed to a destination, only to find yourself driving towards work?
• Have you ever snapped out of deep thought and can’t remember all the details of how you drove to where you are, but have been safely driving?

Now think about this: your everyday task of driving your car is mostly completed by your subconscious.

What If We Harnessed That Power for Jesus?

Why not harness that magnificent God-given power to pave a path to the story of Jesus? Bind Jesus into the subconscious fabric of the children in your ministry. Their little minds are soaking up information so fast. Why not have Jesus drive them subconsciously?

This will certainly take a concentrated effort. Most likely, it involves parents. The more these young children are exposed to Jesus and His teachings, the better.

As written in different articles I have penned for KidzMatter, find ways to expose them to Jesus more than just on Sundays. www.kidzmatter.com/blog/sunday-school-is-it-enough

Final Thoughts

Knowing these early formative years determines personality traits and responses to later life experiences, working together with parents to harness and form a solid foundation of faith and family values. Think outside of the box now that you know more about how valuable these early years are to a child’s later life. Form a plan on how to etch forever the story of Jesus—our loving God, His grace, love, and mercy—in these formative years.

Phil Parks is a Pastoral Counselor, Author, and past Adjunct Faculty Member with Cuyahoga Community College, and Guest Speaker for both Wright State University & University of Dayton. He recently founded Parenting For Adulthood. His passion is for helping people improve in business, life, and spiritually. You can find articles from Phil at www.parentingforadulthood.org.