As Christian parents and educators, is there anything more important to us than helping our children to know the love of God, to know God’s purpose for their life, and to grow in their relationship with Him? As a school administrator, I ask the question of myself, “How do we, the teachers and staff, help our students grow in their faith and develop a passion for following Jesus?” We have students coming from Christian homes, but many have yet to experience a personal relationship with Christ.
For children to grow in Christ, they must first become a believer. They must understand their sin, God’s forgiveness, and Christ’s sacrifice to reconcile them to the Father. As adults, most of us are still grappling with the concept of sin and grace, so our children are sure to have questions as they enter into a relationship with a Living God. If they have grown up in a Christian home they have some knowledge of the basics, but perhaps have not made connections to their faith and their actions. Ultimately, God is the one who reveals Himself to us. However, Christian parents and other influential adults, like teachers and grandparents, who want to help children grow in their relationship with Christ can be part of the process.
In this four part series, I will share with you five practices parents, grandparents, and educators can model to help children grow in Christ. The first way to encourage spiritual growth is to model a love for God.
Model a Love for God
The practice of constant interaction with a child not only helps to develop thinking skills but also gives parents a platform to model a love for God. What do you love? I bet your children can tell you if you ask them the question. What we love is reflected in how we spend our money, how we spend our time, and what we talk about. We make time for what we love, spend money on what we value, and talk about our passions. Here are three ways to model a love for God.
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Invest in God’s Kingdom
On a family vacation to Oregon several years ago, we rented two four wheelers (which we shared with our children) to ride the enormous dunes on the coast. It was a Sunday, July 4th weekend. While our children were out riding, a family of five rolled out on the beach, each on their own machine. Taking note of all their gear, my husband jokingly made the comment, “you can do a lot when you don’t tithe”. Of course we didn’t really know their situation, but the point was that for us an expensive hobby would mean not tithing. We make choices in life regarding how we spend money. Children should know that you are giving to the church. They should know when you make sacrifices in order to give to a missionary or local ministry. They should know if you have less to spend on entertainment because you want them to have a Christian education. Having conversations about these things help children to understand what you value, and that your love for God influences your spending (Matthew 6:20-21).
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Make Time for God’s Word and His Work
Then there is time! It’s funny that when we are purposeful in spending our time, we have less time to be thinking of ways to spend our money! How do you spend your time? Why not ask your children? They have a unique perspective and you may be sobered by their response. If nothing else, it will give you an opportunity to have a conversation about your priorities. Do they see you spending time reading your Bible and praying? Is family time a priority on the weekends? Do you spend time serving others in the church and helping your neighbors? Do you talk with your children about the importance of how you spend your time?
Taking time to read the Bible, both individually and as a family, reflects the value you place on God's Word and the relationship you have with Him. When our children were growing up, we read and prayed together in the morning before we started our day. Making church attendance a priority communicates the important role God's work plays in your family life (Hebrews 10:23-25). As we raised our children, the church family was part of our family. Serving in a variety of ways was important. The time and monetary investment we made in our church offered a consistent message to our children. We expressed our love for God not only in words, but also with our time and resources.
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Proclaim His Greatest
Of course, what we talk about also reflects our passions. What do you love to talk about? Golf, ice cream, coffee, vacation?
I remembering coming out of a movie one night years ago, all enthused about sharing this great film with everyone I knew. In my zeal, the still, quiet voice of the Lord asked me if I was as passionate about sharing His story as I was the movie. The movie was great but I can’t even remember if it had a message! The soft rebuke hit me hard. If we are going to stand and shout at a football game, drive 40 minutes to our favorite ice cream shop, or rave about the best Thai food in town, why are we not shouting the good news of the gospel from the roof tops? Our children are listening to our conversations-those on the phone, those with our spouse, those with family and friends. What do we get fired up about? What are we passionate about? There is nothing wrong with having a favorite ice cream shop or telling your friends about a new restaurant you discovered. The point is, how much are we talking about the Love of our life, the Savior of the world, the One who flung the stars across the heavens?
Parents, teachers, grandparents-we have an opportunity to model a love for God to the precious children God has given us. Model your love for Him. Your conversation and how you spend your time and resources reveals your passions. If you want to model a love for God, your words, your time, and use of money must reflect a love for Him and His Kingdom.
So get to it…and share with me ways you are modeling a love for God to your children (1 John 4:7-12).
I look forward to hearing from you.