Dear Believer,
We love our children. We love our grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc. As believers living in this world, we recognize that we need to take our roles seriously and teach and protect our kids from the cultural lies and false doctrines that can confuse at the very least, and at the most attempt to pull them away from the true gospel of Christ. I know there are a plethora of books and resources out there that are extremely helpful in this subject. So, I am not attempting to give any mysterious insight. But as a mother of a young adult and an almost adult ?, I’d like to share a few of the insights that came up as the three of us chatted about this subject.
Basically, I posed the statement/question, “Life is full of joys and disappointments. That’s just how it is. What foundational lessons have you been and/or are being taught that have helped you navigate this life thus far? What have we done as parents that have felt supportive?” I have summarized their responses as follows:
- Spiritual Foundation
One of the biggest and most foundational lessons we can give our children is spiritual guidance.
THE WHY: First of all, because it is a direct command of God:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deut. 6:4-9,24-25
Secondly, because that is how we are made. We are holistic beings. Our many parts are interconnected. Being a healthy individual does not only require balanced eating, good mental health, and stress management. It is good, but it is not complete. Those things cannot make you whole. Everything you do and live is connected to what you believe spiritually. Not in a universal generic sense, but in a divinely centered life. Think about it. Someone who believes there are no rules or consequences will likely not choose what is best for others, only himself. Someone who believes in a permissible God, will not fear him. These conditions will inform our actions. In contrast, one who believes in a God with commands regarding Himself, how to live life, and how to treat others, will also inform one’s actions. It will supply your motivations and it will guide your purpose. Here are 3 basics to start with:
There is One True God. This begins with the undeniable fact that there is a God. And not just any God; but the One, True God of the Bible. A.W. Tozer posed, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Considering this, we must teach our children who God actually is, not who we conjure up in our own minds. God has revealed to us who He is in His Word. Children need to know without a shadow of a doubt that there is a God who has made them and the world and who is in control. In a world that offers subjectiveness, individual “truths” and a la carte identities, teaching absolute truths keeps children anchored when the winds of changing trends and ideals gust by.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Not only do children need to know that there is One True God, but they need to know that the Almighty God of the universe made them uniquely and wonderfully. To be made fearfully in the original Hebrew means with great reverence, awe-inspiring. Wonderfully means set apart and distinct. What if children grew up knowing the same God who made the beautiful sunsets and the magnificent galaxies, chose their exact noses, eyes, and bodies just for them? That they are His beloved works of art? That they do not need to change according to what lip or body size is currently trending?
The CDC has reported that “the suicide rate among people aged 10-24 increased 62% from 2007 through 2021.” These statistics are horrifying and demand action. As adults who have beloved children in our lives, we must not neglect the proof that children have grown sad and hopeless. The world and its false teachings about finding happiness and fulfillment anywhere but in God have broken our children. We must give them these foundational truths to save them.
“For You formed my innermost parts;
Psalm139:13-16 (AMP)
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].”
What if every child grew up understanding the beautiful fact that the Master Creator intricately, skillfully, and purposefully made them in love? Perhaps those devastating statistics could be different.
You are made with a purpose. And not only that, but He gave them a beautiful purpose in this life. He is with them, every step of the way, guiding them in wisdom and love. Life is hard, we all know this. Life is harder now for children. There is an aimlessness; a desperate desire for meaning and purpose that is fed by personal causes and activities. Online sources have many “answers” to finding your purpose. The problem is that they are all about the Self. Self-reflection. Finding what makes YOU happy. What brings YOU joy. YOUR fulfillment. YOUR PERSONAL growth. Resources go on to give ideas like career, art, health and wellness, family, etc. None of these are wrong. But all are temporary. If you make your career your purpose, what if you lose it? If you make your purpose your family, what if a tragedy takes them all? As horrible as this is, it does happen, doesn’t it? Our children cannot be given the idea that their purpose is a worldly pursuit. Yes, it’s good to have good grades, be a good athlete, and be an environmental hero. Yes, we should help people. But there has to be a higher purpose. One that is permanent and motivates all the good that we desire to do. We must teach our children that our reason for life has been given by God, “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”(2 Tim.1:8). God has called us and our children, before time began, to a holy calling. What is this calling? To live a life dedicated to the praise and glory of Almighty God. Spurgeon explains, “This calling forbids all trust in our own doings and turns us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterward purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God.” When we make our purpose to love and serve God and teach our children the same, their whole life has meaning.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
This purpose can never be taken away. This purpose can never be shaken.
Setting our children atop shaky foundations or no foundation at all leaves them vulnerable to confusion and anxiety. They come into this world and into our responsibility. We must be prepared to give them security and hope in an insecure and changing world. We must give them a solid rock to stand on and begin a lifelong teaching of Christ.
Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these worlds of mine and does them is will be like a a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and floods came, and winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The winds and rain and floods of life WILL come. Have you set your children on solid ground?
The LORD be with you,
Bianca
