“If we decided not to be Christians anymore, would we still be part of this family?” my son asked.
His question shocked me.
“Of course,” I said. “Dad and I would be sad, but we would always love you no matter what.”
The question opened the door to a great conversation about faith and family, but it shocked me for two reasons. I wondered if my son was actually contemplating a decision to reject Christianity. I also wondered if we had somehow conveyed that our love for him was conditional to his following Christ.
We want to pass our faith on to our kids
When our children were small, my husband and I started family devotional times. We kept things short and simple. We read Bible stories and prayed. When they were in middle school, we graduated to reading the real Bible. Each night, we’d read a passage and ask, “What’s your favorite verse here?”
By the time they reached high school, we knew we wanted to encourage them to take ownership themselves of daily Bible reading. We’d hand out Bible reading plans, and over breakfast, we’d give each person the opportunity to share what encouraged or challenged them about they’d read in the morning.
We want our kids to know God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ.
Our kids have made a personal decision to trust Christ for salvation. We want them to experience God’s love and to own their decision by living out their faith for the rest of their lives.
But ultimately the decision to follow Christ is theirs.
When my son left for college, I worried. Would he have his devotional time? Would he go to church?
Will you follow me over to EquippingGodlyWomen.com to read the rest of this post? I’m sharing about the most important thing I want my kids to know no matter what happens.
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Can’t wait to finish reading!
Thanks, Michele.
If only all parents could read this. We need to start them young in terms of faith.
Definitely keeping this in mind for the future. 🙂
Thank you, Lux. May the Lord bless you and make you a blessing!
The best thing we can do for our kids is give them permission and confidence to be who they truly are….and loving them all the way through it. God does it for us, so we must pass it along to them. It may be the truest reflection of God’s love that they see. Thanks, Betsy!
I know you have a lot of wisdom to share in this area as well, Holly. I appreciate that perspective: permission and confidence to be who they are.
Hi Betsy, how are you?
I am not sure I have been here this year! Happy New Year…
This is a powerful message friend. I followed the links to peruse the rest of this article.
Thanks for sharing. I hope all is well with you and your family?
With much love from Nigeria.
God Bless
Blessings to you too, Ifeoma. This message came straight from my heart. And praise God, all is well here. I hope you’re enjoying life with your family too.