September 26, 2014

3 Ways to Train Up Your Kids in the Lord

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[intro]”Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6[/intro]

If you’re a parent and a Christ-follower, one of the most important things you can do for your kids (if not the most important thing) is to raise them to love Jesus. But the problem is, a lot of parents may be new to the faith themselves. More than a handful of the new and hopeful parents at Riv came from broken or messy homes. They love Jesus; they want to raise their kids to love Jesus; and they don’t necessarily have a good model to do so.

Of course, there are a number of parenting strategies to use. Here are a couple of timeless ideas, just to get you started:

1. Have a family quiet time.

When you want to get to know a person, you have a conversation with them. So if you want your kids to love Jesus, the best way is to get them involved in a conversation with Jesus.

There are two parts to this. The first part is by reading the Bible, which is God’s way of speaking to us. For younger kids, you may want to start by simply reading them Bible picture books to get them familiar with some of the big characters of the Bible. (I personally grew up on Arch books, which introduced me to characters ranging from Moses to Zerubbabel.) As your kids get older, start reading a chapter a day together out loud, possibly at the dinner table. Consider having your kids take turns reading the chapter aloud.

The second part of a family devotion time is prayer, which is our way of talking to God. Don’t limit your prayers to a 10-second grace before meals; take a few minutes after reading the Bible together to pray together. The ACTS acronym provides a handy model to follow:

  • Adoration: Take time to praise God, maybe for something you just read, or simply for being an awesome creator.
  • Confession: Admit to being a sinner, and confess your sins. In a family setting, you may want to steer clear from highly personal, specific lists of sins (your 6-year-old doesn’t need to hear that you looked at porn). Instead, consider doing more of a blanket “We know we’re sinners” prayer, then give everyone a few seconds to pray silently about their own sins.
  • Thanksgiving: Thank God for specific things that went well in your day. You may want to have everyone say one or two things out loud.
  • Supplication: Keep a list of family prayer requests, and pray through them, out loud, together.

Remember, the goal of this is not to be formulaic. It’s to teach our kids (and ourselves) that we worship a loving God who wants to hear from us.

2. Memorize Scripture together.

Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” It’s amazing how many things we absorb and memorize throughout our day, like song lyrics and ad scripts…so it’s important to fill both our kids’ minds and our own with God’s word, so it can come to the forefront in times of temptation. After all, when your teens are facing sexual temptation (and they will, no matter how well you try to protect them), would you rather have them think of the lyrics of “Call Me, Maybe” or the words of 1 Corinthians 10:13?

Here are just a few passages for you to memorize as a family, listed in no particular order. Obviously, don’t limit your family to just these.

  • John 3:16
  • Psalm 23
  • Exodus 20:1-17 (the 10 Commandments)
  • Romans 3:10-12, 23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-10, 13; 5:1; 8:1, 38-39 (collectively known as the Romans Road, outlining the plan of salvation)
  • 1 John 4:7-8
  • Proverbs 3:5-6
  • Matthew 28:19-20

By the way, I picked these particular passages because I remember learning them in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School growing up. I’m living proof that the seeds of Scripture planted in childhood may still flourish in adulthood…and I know I’m not the only one at Riv who can say the same.

3. Serve together.

One of the most important things you can do as a family is to live out the principles you learn in the Bible as a family. Serving together is a great way to do that. It helps to show your kids where your priorities lie.

Here again are just a few ideas:

  • Join the Welcome Team. If your kids are old enough to smile, shake hands, and hold doors, they’re old enough to help out on the Welcome Team. Hint: if your whole family is serving together on the same team on the same weekend each month, you won’t have to worry about trying to coordinate cars and schedules. E-mail [email protected] for more details.
  • Do a Compassion Team project together. Several times a year, the Compassion Team does big community projects. Getting your kids involved may be as simple as taking them shopping and helping them pick school supplies for needy kids for a back-to-school drive. Or you can deliver a Thanksgiving dinner to a family in need.
  • Go to Mexico. We’ve had kids as young as 13 travel with us to Mazatlan to serve orphans. So instead of going to Disney like you do every summer, take your family to do missions work. E-mail [email protected] for more details.

Even if your kids are too young to serve in the church, you can and should still volunteer. Your kids will see it and be more likely to serve when they are old enough. Pastor Noel Heikkinen’s daughter, for example, grew up watching both her parents serve actively. Now that she’s a teenager, she herself is a teacher in RivKids.

What else?

Again, these were only a few ideas to get you started. If you need more ideas, Riv pastor Paul DenHerder periodically teaches a parenting class focused on dealing with many of today’s parenting issues. And, of course, you’ll want to send your kids to RivKids.

Whatever you do, just remember: you are your kids’ best example of Jesus. No pressure there, right? But if you model what it looks like to love Jesus, your kids will pick up on it.

 

Got questions, comments, or suggestions for this blog? We’d love to hear them! Just e-mail us at [email protected].

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