Deuteronomy 6:5-7 gives us, as Christian parents, our job description, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Parenting can be hard. The hours are long and the work is never ending. Parents, you are doing such a good job as the God-ordained faith builders in your home. God has blessed you with children and entrusted you to make disciples within your home. Your home is one of your very most important mission fields. I am sure there are things, most days, that you are diligent about with your children. You make sure that they do things like brush their teeth each day (maybe even floss), take a bath, brush their hair, eat nutritious food, drink water each day, complete their schoolwork, go to school, go to bed on time, and other things that you see as necessary tasks. These are non-negotiable because you know that their physical and educational health depends on such things. And we all want our children to be healthy and successful in life.
But what about their spiritual health? Are there things that are essential or non-negotiable each day in your home for your children’s spiritual health? After all, their eternal destination is on the line here. I am sure that you want the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your children know, love, and follow Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, therefore ensuring them a place in heaven with Him for all eternity. And as parents, we all want our children to experience the abundant life that only comes as a result of putting their trust and faith in Jesus. It is not enough for us to want our children to know Jesus. We cannot wish them into a relationship with Him either. There must come a time when each and every child (or person) must individually and personally accept God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus. There are no shortcuts.
Therefore, we as parents must make sure that our children hear and learn about what Jesus did for them. There is too much at risk for us to just hope that they will hear about Jesus and salvation somewhere or from someone! The world does not care if they know and love Jesus. We, as the parents and faith builders in the home, must make sure that our children understand that Jesus has a gift for them, a gift of forgiveness and salvation, a gift of eternal life, the gift of His Holy Spirit. There must come a time when our children understand that they are sinners that need to be forgiven, that their sin separates them from a perfect and loving God, that they need a Savior. Jesus died on the cross in their place, paying the price for their sin. Jesus is the one and only way to God. Time spent reading and studying the Bible with our children helps them learn this truth and how to accept this gift. We, as parents, can model what life looks like in a faith-based relationship with Jesus. We can also take our children to church where we can learn together with other believers how to live a life that pleases King Jesus. Do your children catch you reading your Bible? Do they know it is an important part of your everyday life? Do they see or hear you pray daily? Do they experience you asking for forgiveness when you have made a mistake or hurt someone? Do you help your children set aside time each day for these non-negotiable disciplines in their lives?
If we want our children to become Christians that, in turn, live out their faith, we must live it out loud! We must open our Bibles and help our children learn and understand. We must open our mouths and pray, setting an example of what this relationship looks like. We must model serving others. We must extend forgiveness to others. We must show them that we have been called to love God and love people. All people. Parenting is hard, but it is also rewarding and fills us with a joy that cannot be taken away no matter what takes place around us. The days are long, but the years are short. We better get busy, equipping our children, the next generation, the future church, to be Spirit-filled believers with a passion for Christ and a love for people. It does not happen on accident my friends. There is much work to be done. I am praying for you. I am here to help you however I can. I love you. I love your children. I love King Jesus. We are in this together.
Eternity is at stake my friends.
Faith Builders in the Home, you can start here:
Resources
For a complete Bible story worship experience with your child, please go to ministrygrid.lifeway.com and create or log in to your free account. Then follow this link for this week’s lesson: Paul Wrote to Timothy.
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