Living Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go; And when he is old he will not depart from it"
Proverbs 22:6

Last Saturday, I visited a local church for their Mother's Day Service. The message was titled "Passing the Baton" meaning passing our faith. Training up our children in God's word.

Using the book of Judges as an example, they spoke much about Israel's failure to pass the Lord's teaching to their children.

In our morning Bible time, we recently finished the book of Judges so it was fresh in my mind how "how everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25) vs living according to God's law. Each generation got further and further away until most things of God were forgotten or ignored.

Isn't it so very sad that we see the same things in our culture today?

In their bulletin, they had a listing of habits and practical applications that we should be doing daily in order to live out our faith to God and at the same time teaching and passing our faith to our children. They were all reminders to me, but I found myself reading through them many times throughout the week, so I thought I would share them here...

HABITS:

1. Pray and read your Bible everyday! (actually this was listed as #4 but I personally think it should be our #1 habit...so I moved it up! =)

2. Pray at all meals and teach your child to pray at meals.

3. Pray before going to sleep. Teach children to pray before sleep.

*Now again if I could just add my two bits in here...I agree with #2 and #3 completely but to take that a step further, to teach your child to have quiet time with the Lord every day. Reading His word. Praying. Worshiping. It's teaching them to start the habit of spending time fellowshiping with the Him independently. The Lord placed this on my heart for our family and we started 20 min of quiet time each day in which they spend with the Lord. It's right on our chore chart for remembrance. It has been going well. If we have weeks that we fall off (which we have) it's simply picking up again, right where we left off. And praying before bed is awesome...and we do...but we have a tendency to doze off (personal experience). God deserves our best so I am trying to teach and practice praying and fellowshiping with Him when we are wide awake and alert.

5. Go to Church faithfully and make sure your children to to the children and teen programs.

6. Pray for your children's salvation and continued maturity as Christians.

7. Tell your children you love them and make sure they hear you say it to your spouse.

8. (my addition) Make sure you tell them how much Christ loves them! He made them in His image. Fearfully and wonderfully He made them! We need to remind them constantly of that!

PRACTICAL:

9. Listen to yourself talking to your children and your spouse. (yes, ouch! Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks)

10. How do you sound to your children when you are on the phone? (double ouch! What is my witness? Felt a lot of conviction on this one!)

11. Monitor television, video games, music, friends, and reading material.

12. (This one grabbed my heart) Do your children know that the Lord is more important to you than sports, hobbies, education or money? (What are my actions concerning worldly things? Do my children see that I love the Lord more than everything else?? Do I love the Lord more than anything else??? My actions reflect my heart)

13. Do your children hear you say your are sorry when you do wrong? (We are not perfect and our children see it quicker than anyone else. Repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness. Live it out in front of our children. Faith in action! =)

14. Do you children see you helping those that can't help themselves?

15. Do your children know how to work? It is your responsibility to teach them to work hard.

16. Very, very seldom (Look at this with a Biblical perspective) side with children over authority. ex-Church, teachers, grandparents, police, bosses, other adults)

17. Teach that unfairness is a part of life; stop complaining and go on. (When my kids say "That's not fair" my response is always..."Life's not fair". We have that to look forward to in eternity.)

18. (I love this one!) What makes you know that your child knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

19. Discipline your child in a way it hurts them the most, so that they get the point. (Again...make sure that this is in a Biblical manner. Seek God's wisdom.)

20. You can and should express disappointment in your child's sin and disobedience. Never make them feel unimportant or small. (Don't crush your child's spirit)

21. Seldom lend to your child or sign for children; if you want to help, give yourself physically or give money.

22. Your rules in your house, when they choose to leave they can follow their rules.

23. Follow your child's rules concerning your grandchildren.

24. Teach your children to always be truthful and fair. (Being conformed to the image of Christ. "What do you think Jesus would do in that situation?"


So there you have it! Take these reminders and allow God to speak to you through it.

Let's make sure that we are passing our faith to our children.
Aren't they worth it?!



*Photo is of a green crayon colored popsicle stick palm branch that we made for remembrance of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. "Hosanna! Hosanna!" Made by my Lola