Instilling Faith in Your Children
Growing up
in a Christian family has many benefits. Some of the downsides of being raised
in a Christian home though, are that the children can become “inoculated” by
the Gospel and view it only as an intellectual understanding, especially when they
know all the Bible stories from Children’s Sunday School; they can view it as “their
parents’ faith” but not their own.
Many young
children, especially starting around the ages of four or five, can have some of
the most profound spiritual discussions and queries about God and the truths of
the Bible. The innocence of children and the child-like-faith that Jesus
mentioned as the way to enter the Kingdom of God, can be very prominently demonstrated
during these ages.
To help our
children to be able to have faith that are personal and rooted in God’s truths,
it would be good to help them connect God’s truths with their experiences. In Pedagogy,
studies have shown that the best way to help someone “learn” something new, is the
combination of the didactic coupled with the experience of the learner in the
very thing that is being taught.
Here are
some practical suggestions on helping your children to develop personal faith
in Christ.
1. First and foremost: Help them to experience God through
prayer. Invite them to pray for simple daily needs. Develop a culture of God answering
prayer in their lives. When you or they have misplaced something, ask them to
join you in prayer to find it: an answered prayer of something little can build
faith that will enable them to ask for bigger things in the future. The experiences
of answered prayers would enable them to experience the realness of God, which
they would not be able to deny. In the process of praying and waiting, teach
them to discern God’s will: as when we pray according to God’s will, He will
answer us.
2. Help them to remember who they are: God’s
beloved. Having their security and identity out of their relationship with Christ
as the source of their self-worth, would anchor them as they are “in the world
but not of it” (John 17:14-16). One can do this by reminding your children as
they start the day: “Remember whose you are, and live out who you are today…”
3. Help them look for “God Sightings” in
nature throughout the day: Point out the rustling of the leaves as the wind
blows – That God has created the wind and the beauty of the leaves swaying in
the wind; The beautiful sunsets God has made; The rainbow after a rain that God
reminds us of His faithfulness promised to Noah; The clouds that form different
shapes and density and how they morph and change and get carried along by the
wind, etc.
4. Help them to look for “God Sightings”
in their environment, whether it be at home, in school, in the neighborhood
or at church: Ask them to look for what God is doing in people’s lives and in
the world.
5. Help foster an attitude of gratitude:
At the end of each day, or around the dinner table, ask each person to share
one thing they are grateful to God for the day. It can be the beautiful
weather; There was not much homework for the day; They felt relieved that they
finished an assignment or a test; Someone was kind to them; They were kind to
someone at school, etc.
6. Help them to know God’s truth through
simple and short Object Lessons that come up in the day-to-day experiences.*
7. Help them to memorize the Bible. A
child’s memory is so much better than an older brain. Instill God’s truths
through memorization now, so when circumstances come up later in their lives,
the Holy Spirit can remind them what they memorized while they were young.
8. Help them to be immersed in Christ-centered-
settings: Bring them to church where they can hear others teach, speak and experience
the Bible being lived out in others’ lives; Do not take away their Children’s
Church or Youth Group involvement as a way of “punishment” for when they
misbehave at home, as church setting will help them to grow and become better Christ
followers - which would help them to become more of the kinds of children you
want at home.
9. Help them find Spiritual Mentors who
can share the load of your teaching and training them up in the Lord. Be on the
look out, pray and then approach believers who are spiritually more mature than
your child, to mentor and disciple your child.
10. Help to foster spiritual partnerships
for them. Look out for their peers who also love Jesus and invite them for
playdates so they can experience godly peer influences.
11. Help them to look outward and see whom
and how they can be a blessing to someone else. As they go off to school or to
church, gently challenge/remind them to look for a way they can bless someone
that day: Comfort someone; Help someone with a physical need; Encourage someone; Keep a lonely person company; Speak up for someone who is being picked on; Acknowledge
something good someone has done, etc.
12. Help them to pray on their own and to
discern for themselves God’s will for their lives: from simple mundane things as
whether or not they ought to take up playing an instrument, to which high
school to apply to, etc.
Resources:
Focus on the
Family has lots of practical resources:
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/topic/parenting/family-spiritual-growth/
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