How old are your kids? No matter how young they are, I would imagine you can already see signs of their growing independence. In what will seem like a manner of minutes, your children will probably move out of your home to begin their adult lives. You won’t have the ability to point them towards God throughout the day in your home. Your kids will need to know how to keep themselves healthy spiritually. If not, their faith will quickly wither and die.
Many of the things that help us grow and mature spiritually are things your kids can make habits in their lives. Just like eating healthy foods and exercising can keep their bodies as healthy as they can be, there are habits that will help your children stay strong spiritually. Doing these things regularly will give God opportunities to work on their hearts, while also letting them know what God wants from them and for them in life. They will help strengthen your children’s faith, so they will be prepared when the inevitable storms of life arise.
So what habits can you help your child establish so they can continue growing and maturing spiritually throughout their lives? There are probably quite a few, but here are four I believe are essential for spiritual health and growth:
Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution? How long were you able to keep it? If you are like me, I’m good for a few days or a few weeks at most. Here’s the critical question. Once you broke that resolution, what happened? Most people find when they break the resolution, they give themselves a free pass until the end of the year. Why? Because no matter how badly we say we want to change, it’s hard work. We often have developed bad habits because even though they are bad for us, there was a pay out of some sort in them – usually a make-me-feel-good-in-the-moment one.
You may not know this, but Parenting Like Hannah and its parent ministry Teach One Reach One actually began with the writing of a study for parents and Bible class teachers to do with young people who were expressing an interest in being baptized and becoming a Christian. I wrote it, because at the time my own daughter was interested in becoming a Christian and I couldn’t find anything I liked. As we studied together, I crafted the study from what we discussed and the questions she and some of her friends had on the topic.
Unless you have been living on another planet for the last few years, you may have noticed there is an increasing lack of kindness in our world. It seems everyone has lost the filter that keeps them from saying and doing every hurtful, hateful thing that enters their minds. Sadly, even Christians have not seemed to be totally immune to this virus of unkindness.
Ever wonder why the wisemen brought the gifts they did to Jesus? Wouldn’t there have been more practical gifts to give a young couple celebrating the birth of a child? Your kids probably have some of the same questions. They may even wonder what in the world frankincense and myrrh are. I know I did until just recently!