Today we are asking the
question, “How do you pass down faith to your teenager?”
Let’s
begin by watching this 3 minute video… http://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/43519296/a13f91ff3d
Deuteronomy
6:4-9 gives us our mission from God as parents:
“Hear
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These
commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them
on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your
hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your
houses and on your gates.”
I
want to quickly unpack this job description for parents into 3 action steps
that you can do today to begin passing down faith in your home:
1)
Put it in your Heart First- “these commands…are to be on your hearts” You can’t
give away what you don’t have. You can’t inspire someone else to do
something unless it inspires you first. If you want your teenager to be
fueled by their faith than make sure that is what is fueling you.
ACTION STEP: Consider planning a spiritual retreat for yourself. You could
get away for just a few hours or you could invest a whole week in a focused
time with God. It may feel selfish, but filling your own heart spiritually
allows it the ability to spill over into the life of your family. If you
do not have a relationship with Jesus and would like to talk with someone about
that, please feel free to call or email me so we can talk, I would love to
share the best news you will ever hear with you.
2)
Infuse Faith into Everyday Life- “talk about them when you sit at home” The
center of spiritual activity for your family should be your home. Many times we
believe that
should
be the church. In God’s blueprint for passing down faith He sets up parents to
be the leaders and the home to be the main stage.
ACTION STEP: Brainstorm ways you can discuss faith with your teenager daily.
Practice intentional conversation about spiritual matters this week. It could
be as simple as leaving your teenager a note with your favorite verse and
an encouraging word. It makes a difference.
3)
Use Symbols and Ceremonies to Pass Down Faith- “Tie them as symbols on your
hands” If you read the Bible you will quickly see that God values symbols
and ceremonies as a way of giving faith away to the next generation. The
Hebrew word for “impress” in verse 7 literally means to “tattoo”. God made the
hearts and minds of children and He knew that the way to “tattoo” faith on
their hearts was to give them symbols they can touch and ceremonies they can
experience.
ACTION STEP: What are some Christian symbols and ceremonies you can bring
into your home and lead your family to experience together. Our Student
Ministry has created these kinds of experiences you can do with your
teenager. Go check out the Rites of Passage Experience materials we have
available for you by clicking this link:
God sure did give us an
important job didn’t He?
The
encouragement we have for you today is that you are not alone in this task.
God
Himself will give you all that you need to accomplish His will as a parent.
Also,
our church’s Student Ministry stands ready to partner with you in this task.
This is why we started this Online Parenting Class and we are making the Rites
of Passage
Experience
available to your family.
I would love to hear your
questions, thoughts, or continued discussion.
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