Raising Kids to Be Joyful Christians

Raising Kids to Be Joyful Christians - Parenting Like Hannah

 

Have you ever seen people walk by kids having fun? Many times it will bring a smile to their face or they will stop for a moment and just enjoy watching carefree children at play. That childhood joy is contagious.

Joy is a very important spiritual characteristic we need to help our children develop. You see joy acts like a magnet. People see people who are joyful and they are drawn to find out how someone could be joyful in this fallen world.

There are several things to remember as you help your kids be joyful:

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Teaching Kids Words Matter

Teaching Kids Words Matter - Parenting LIke HannaThis summer I spent a lot of time doing empathy workshops with teens and adults. Every group I work with lists empathy workshops as their number one need in training volunteers. I thought it had to do with empathy issues, but it turns out one of the main problems people who serve others have is the words that volunteers say to the people they are supposed to be serving.

When adults discuss how children and teens speak to each other, the topic of bullying often arises. For children being raised in a Christian home, how they use their words goes way beyond bullying in the positive and negative effects they can have on people. We often forget Jesus tied serving others and sharing his faith together. Serving was a way to point people to God. Serving their felt needs meant they would be able to hear what Jesus had to say, because their pain, hunger or fears had subsided.

You’ve hopefully taught your kids not to overtly bully others or threaten them. I would imagine most of the time they are kind when speaking to their friends. In fact, once they reach the teen years they may have long wonderful conversations with close friends. Have you taught them though to always be kind, loving and supportive with their words with other people? Have you taught them how to use their words to point others to God? Have you taught them that a seemingly innocent (for a kid) comment like “You don’t smell good” can have life long consequences for the person to whom it is said?

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Parenting and Communication Skills

Parenting and Communication Skills - Parenting Like HannahIf you listen to most parents talk for very long, it becomes obvious many problems in families are actually communication problems. If you have ever said things like “They don’t seem to hear me” or “No matter what I say she gets mad” or almost any sentence involving listening or speaking, you may have communication issues too.

I was intrigued by the title of a new book I was offered to review. You Can’t Text a Tough Conversation by Mike Bechtle attempts to teach basic communication skills to a generation who has spent a lifetime condensing speech into a text. Although in some ways a primer, it had enough great reminders and new information to be helpful to even a somewhat practiced communicator.

The author breaks down the book into four main sections. The first basically makes his case for the need for teaching and learning how to communicate well. In the second section, he gives six tools for healthy conversations and six skills needed in the third section. The final section he uses to more or less put all of the pieces together into some general thoughts on communication circles, technology and more.

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The Only Christian Parenting Mission Statement You Will Ever Need

The Only Christian Parenting Mission Statement You Will Ever Need - Parenting Like HannahIf you read many business, parenting or leadership books, you will eventually encounter several authors who suggest you can’t really achieve your goals without a mission statement. Now I’m not one for all that formality, but the principle is not bad. If you don’t know where you are headed with your parenting, how will you know how to get there?

Google “creating a mission statement” and I am sure you will find a gazillion articles walking you through the process. I am going to save you a ton of time. This is the only mission statement you need as a Christian parent: “I want to parent in such a way that my children and my future descendants spend eternity in Heaven.”

I know some of you are wondering about raising them to be independent or happy or successful or a ton of other adjectives. I promise you every goal you have for your kids fits under the above mission statement in one of three ways:

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Christian Kids and Leadership Skills

Christian Kids and Leadership Skills - Parenting Like HannahChildren rarely hear about leadership in their Bible classes. Teens may hear the words occasionally in youth group, but usually it’s more about getting the other teens to behave than anything else. Even adults rarely get teaching on leadership. The church is suffering because we aren’t preparing people to be godly leaders. (I’m sure all of us have horror stories about a Church leader or two with the leadership skills of a not so benevolent dictator.)

For some reason, we must assume leadership is a gift given perfectly developed at baptism or even birth. Now I do believe Christians get some extra leadership help from the Holy Spirit, but the reality is like any other gift God gives us to use to serve Him, we need to take the time and energy to develop it.

Your kids need leadership training in your home. They are probably not going to get it at church and if they do get it in school, there is no guarantee the principles they are being taught are anywhere close to godly. If your children were gifted by God to be Christian leaders in their communities and around the world, they need help now developing godly leadership skills.

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