Motherhood can be overwhelming at times.
It’s easy to get pulled into the day-to-day details, taking care of tiny needs to the point of distraction, while pushing off the big picture that seems so far ahead of us. Before we know it, our babies have grown from 4 to 14 in the blink of an eye, and it suddenly hits us that the things we hoped to have accomplished may not have even been addressed.
This is especially true of doing our part in building their faith.
Just like everything else of any value in life, it takes preparation and planning to be successful. As moms, we should be caring for our children in the here and now, while keeping the end-game in mind regarding their faith. But, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
At whatever point you are currently in, in your parenting, decide now what it is that you want your children to pick up the most toward building their faith. Then start helping them grow these skills month by month, year by year. This will obviously be different for every single one of you. Some may want to touch on specific behaviors and skills, while others may prefer their children grow their faith more organically.
What’s important is that you decide now what it is that you would like for them to have in the future in terms of skills you’ve helped to instill toward their faith; then begin encouraging them with the end goal of them leaving your home firmly secure in these skills.
Examples to consider:
- Prayer
- Regular church attendance
- Friendship with Jesus
- Regular Bible study
- Verse recognition
- Finding a life verse for seasons of their lives
- Evangelism
- Service to others
- Youth group attendance
- Mission trips
- Volunteer work
- Researching Christianity
- Knowledge of other faiths and cultures
- Friendships with other young believers
- Encouraging hard questions
- Journaling about their faith walk
- Helping them connect personal situations to similar ones in the Bible
Regardless of what you decide to focus on, keep in mind that this is one of those areas in life where your children will learn the most by watching you.
Choose the items that are most important to you (and obviously there are many others not listed here), then focus on those with a long range goal of reaching them by the time your children are ready to go out on their own. Build on those concepts little-by-little over the years until the skill becomes natural and easily accepted as part of who they are in their faith walk.
Once they are on their own, you will have equipped them in a way that will have lifelong rewards.
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