Faith In Children

I was going to write down quick answers to the many questions that I get through emails, but one email that I received asked me some questions that I had to really mull over before I gave a response. I thought they were good enough questions that I would share them in a post. I would love to read your feedback concerning these issues too.



The most important question in her email to me was "How do you teach FAITH to your children?" She continued to ask if I thought it was my homeschooling technique, by my example, or if I read scripture to the boys regularly. All good questions and good thoughts for me, because sometimes I take certain things for granted in my lifestyle and I don't weigh them as much as I ought to.



The faith I instill in my children is so critical, but it is such a part of our family fiber that I take it for granted in some ways. In other ways I am very conscientious about it all. Now I know that this may not make sense. It may sound as if I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth, but I assure you I am not.



One of the main reasons we decided to homeschool, many years ago, was because I wanted to have as much opportunity to instill our beliefs in to our children. I figured that math, reading and writing were academic fundamentals, but our faith was something that I would have to work on daily if I wanted them to grab hold of it with both hands and feet. I needed all the time that the Lord gave me to do this thing. Now this didn't mean only bible verse memorizing, actually that was, again, a small thing compared to what I deemed critical in raising my children. I wanted them to have hearts towards the Lord, and that was something that had to be given to them in many different layers. One was by example, talking to them about right and wrong, and biblically understanding who God was. So many things to be accomplished in such a short amount of time.



In the early years we talked about God as if He were with us everyday (which He is). I would ask "What do you think God thinks of that?" alot. If they didn't give me a solid answer I would drum up an example in the bible or a basic concept that would teach them to ask themselves this question. We spent a lot of time teaching this very basic skill. I wanted it to be second nature for them; to think about God and what he would think or do on any given day. I tried to make it fun and light hearted. I spoke to them about how good God was, and tried to instruct them to trust in Him, and to fall in love with him. During trials of disobedience I would explain to them that we held to the Lord's laws, that they weren't Den and I's laws, but that we were just enforcing God's rules. This again made them think about God and how He is the head of all things. A respect was laid for Him in our home, and in our conversation.



As our children grew we taught them more from the word. We would show them things in the word that were black and white. Den would tell them why we would do something a certain way, and yet show them the beauty in it. We explained to them the finer details of our beliefs, but it was always backed by scriptures.



Living the example of happiness, counting our blessings, having brethren in our home (that set the same good example) was and is a very important part of our life. Through hospitality, and partaking in other's hospitality was how the children fell in love with God's people. It has been layers and layers of love. If someone did something for us out of kindness it was duly noted and we explained how the Lord would bless them for it, so they were looking for those blessings. Seek and ye shall find.



We do many things with our children. We talk on good things as much as possible. We talk about God's mercies, God's goodness and we point out the good things we see in others. We also talk about the seriousness of the Lord. How he is a just Heavenly Father and one to be feared. We share with them the natural consequences of bad behavior, and talk about the ultimate cost of not putting God first in their lives. It is the very fiber of our family, and because of this it is not easy to say this one thing instills faith or a love for the Lord. No, it is many many things in our lives. You can't fake it, or only talk about it, you have to live it, it has to be who you are. That is the only way that your children will truly believe and truly have faith. It has to be proved in their own lives. They first build confidence through their parents, and then they begin to step out on God's promises themselves. Through all of these things God can work, but the door has to be laid wide open, and therefore the Lord can step on through.