Notes from Session #5
Sticky Faith
// Parent Curriculum DVD
Ultimately your main goal with your child’s faith is that their spiritual journey leads to adopting your faith as their own.
We can’t control our kids faith development because ultimately whether or not they will have sticky faith rests on them and their decision. Our kids don’t live out our hopes and dreams for them, but their own hopes and dreams for themselves.
Shower kids with unconditional support
At some level, for all kids, growing up is difficult and lonely. We add in things like academics, sports, extra-curricular activities, managing friendships and tough family situations, along with a budding faith, we have to help and come alongside of kids to guide them in making good choices. However, faith is meaningless unless they choose it for themselves. Parents cannot force or choose it for their kids.
“Your long-term commitment to be there for them, regardless of how they act, is one of your greatest gifts to them.”
We need to treat our kids with respect, even when we disagree with them or are disappointed in them. If our kids are interested in church or God, we often try to control them back to church or God. Instead, we need to be the presence of God to them dispensing grace and love, not condemnation or judgment.
“Should I make my kids go to church?”
Tricky question. But a general answer could be:
- You need to work toward making it your kids’ choice and not something forced. Respect their desire not to go. Forced friendships are not great for adolescents. It should be your goal to help make it their choice.
- Connect your child with christian friends in casual or organic settings (again, not forced or contrived… it will have the opposite effect). Sometimes a reason a kid doesn’t want to go to church is because they don’t have friends there.
Restoration occurs through relationship
Our kids need “faithfulness” in us as parents to love them even when they disappoint, don’t live up to our expectations, lie, make bad choices, etc. God is faithful to us when we mess up. We need to demonstrate the heart of God to our kids when they mess up.
“Your faith impacts your child more than any other factor.”
What they see, hear and experience from our lived-out faith will communicate more than anything else to our kids. The legacy we as parents leave will mark our kids for their whole life.
Take your child to Jesus and leave them there
Jesus will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS stick with our kids… and with us.
This is the fifth post in a series called Sticky Faith.
