Personalized Faith: How to Help Kids Own Their Faith
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Subject Line: How to Help Kids Own Their Faith
Dear Parents,
How to help kids own their faith outside of their parents can be a subject that seems intimidating at times. Other times, it may seem scary and uncertain because it means that if your child has a relationship with God, they’re going to have to form it outside of yours. They can’t just rely on your walk with God. So what are some next steps you can take?
In today’s short, encouraging video, we have 2 ways you can help your child start the journey towards owning their faith. Just click the link below to get started.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/529808250/0ab80170f1
It is an honor and privilege to help support you in any way. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything.
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Subject Line: What’s Within My Control?
Dear Parents,
Sometimes… it’s hard on parents as they try to lead their kids spiritually. Yes, parents are the greatest spiritual influence in a child’s life. They are a part of the process, but not the whole. They have a choice to accept it for themselves one day. So what’s within our control? What’s not?
In today’s video, we give you two action steps that are within your control. Just click today’s video to get started.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/529808250/0ab80170f1
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VIDEO
SOCIAL MEDIA SWAG
We have a new parent video for you with 2 ways to encourage your child to own their faith. Check your inbox for more!
Parents can teach their children about God’s invitation for a relationship, but they cannot control whether their children open their hearts to God and accept the invitation. That decision is theirs alone to own. Learn more in today’s brief and encouraging parent video.
Learn more about how to encourage your child to own their faith in our new parent video. Check your inbox for more.
What is within a parents control regarding their child’s faith? There are two things you can do as a child’s parent to encourage them to own their relationship with God. To learn more, check your inbox.
VIDEO SCRIPT
When I hear phrases like “kids can’t borrow their parents faith” or “God doesn’t have grandchildren,” they are about a complicated subject: how to help kids own their faith outside of their parents. This subject can seem intimidating because it means that if my child has a relationship with God, they’re going to have to form their relationship with God, outside of mine. They can’t just rely on my walk with God.
Many of you might have heard the statement: parents are the primary spiritual influence in a child’s life, which means we have a big say in their understanding of who God is. We can teach them about God’s invitation for a relationship. But as we influence them, we must accept we cannot control them. We’re not able to control whether our children open their hearts to God and accept the invitation. That decision is theirs alone to own.
For many parents, that can be scary because it feels like we don’t have control. It feels like, man, I wish I could choose for my child and force their heart open to God. I want them to have a relationship with Him, and I hope it grows like a garden in the spring. But it’s something parents are unable to control. They cannot control the uncontrollable. God created relationships as a choice, where every human being can decide for him or herself.
So where do parents fit it? What is within their control? Here are two things you can do as a child’s parent to help them own their relationship with God.
Number one. You can show them. You can show them what a relationship with God looks like…a real, honest, authentic friendship with God. And I want to emphasize one thing- show them what an “honest” relationship with God looks like. Sometimes there is a temptation to show them a perfect relationship with God with no mistakes, no admitting of sin, and every spiritual question answered.
So many parents think they should act like this for a variety of reasons. Some think they’ll disappoint their children if they’re honest. Others allow egos to lead, which means they think they should portray some sort of spiritual image to their kids. But what does this accomplish? It teaches our children that to have a relationship with God, we must be perfect, leading to performance because we all understand that perfection is impossible.
It’s much better when a parent reveals a man or woman following after God with dependence and surrender, including the stumbles, falls, and mistakes. When your children see how you do it, they’ll remember the vision of what it looks like to keep moving forward, how to get back up, asking God and others for forgiveness.
It’s good to show them when we’re confused and don’t have all the answers. It’s good to show them when we’re trying to study the Bible and are unsure of its meaning, so we look for trusted sources for answers. It’s good to show them the times we have seasons of doubt or feel like God is distant. It’s good to show them when we don’t understand why, yet choose to work through it and not check out on our relationship with God.
You see, that’s a real relationship… with ups and downs… when it’s beautiful and wonderful, but also messy at times. When we show them that kind of relationship, we show them something attainable. Real friendship with God versus a standard, perfection, and performance that’s impossible for them to meet. So the first thing we can do is “show them.”
The second thing we can do is to “share with them.” We can talk to them about our relationship, directly or indirectly. For some parents, showing might be easier than sharing because you may say, “They’re watching my life. They’ll see my example, but I am not comfortable talking.” But imagine if you combined your living example of faith with a verbal conversation. You see, a faith-based conversation is a proven method to help children own their faith. They can “see” it and “know” it. When you talk about it at home directly or on-the-go and talk indirectly, you’re making it familiar and easy to understand in everyday life. These conversations create moments for kids to latch on and catch what you’re talking about it.
Sometimes… we think it’s hard to lead our kids spiritually, but at the end of the day, if we live out a real example and talk about it, we do more than we could ever imagine helping our children own their faith. These two action steps are what is within our control. So let’s control what we can control.
Show it honestly and share it regularly. When we do those two, we help our children own their faith.
