OPINION:
Christian parents desire their children to develop a strong love for Jesus, maintain unwavering faith, and actively share their values with others. However, according to a Barna study, 73% of U.S. Christian parents are concerned about their children’s spiritual development. Although this stat is alarming, I can’t say I’m surprised by it. And, why is that?
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The decline in church attendance coupled with the rise of social media usage has sparked concern among parents regarding the potential negative influence on their children. In fact, research finds that more teens are turning to social media for life lessons and connection, rather than their parents.
It’s no surprise that our children are heavily influenced by their peers and their surroundings, so how do we guide them on the right path so we can be confident that they will stay true to their faith?
Start planting the seeds when they’re young by leading through example and offering encouragement. As they transition into their teenage years, a more direct approach is necessary to reinforce the values that have been instilled in them.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Bad company corrupts good character.” Since kids of all ages are visual learners, I took a unique approach to this life lesson when my kids were young…
One day, my son told me he felt it didn’t matter if he had Christian friends or not. So I challenged him to participate in an experiment with me. I asked my son, who was taller and more powerful than me, to sit on a kitchen chair. He represented a faith-filled believer. I sat on the floor beside his chair representing the friend who did not share his faith. I asked him to shake my hand and try to pull me up to his chair. At the same time, I would try to pull him down to the floor with me. He chuckled and confidently said, “This is going to be easy!” “One, two, three, go,” I yelled and in record time I had pulled my son easily onto the floor. He was stunned that it was so easy for me to pull him down from my position on the floor. Due to gravity, my pull was stronger. In a tangible way, my son saw that spending time with friends who don’t share his faith could pull him down quite easily and might over time weaken his faith.
Not only do we need to encourage them to find and keep good friends, we need to instill a ‘culture of inviting’ into our kids’ hearts. Inviting their friends into your home is a powerful way to influence others. In fact, you win influence by inviting people into YOUR space. By fostering a welcoming environment for other teens, you can have a positive impact on them, as well as modeling kindness and influence to your kids.
Every Wednesday night, a friend of mine hosts a delicious dinner for a group of her teenage son’s friends. The stipulation? They must attend the local church’s youth group after dinner. And guess what? Many kids show up each week, some of which have no faith background. This weekly tradition gives the kids — even her own kids — the opportunity to build healthy relationships with peers by exploring faith together in a safe and encouraging space. Plus, they get a nutritious meal before heading off to youth group. It’s a win-win!
Since we can’t control the school environment our kids are in during the day, we must also be intentional about the atmosphere of our home. Create a God-honoring home that encourages your childrens’ faith formation with daily routines of prayer, reading Scripture and devotions, and worship. It really comes down to how you live your daily life, and before you know it, all these things make talking about God just a normal part of life.
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By creating a God-honoring home and encouraging our kids to be a leader and stand firm in their faith foundation, they will start to surround themselves with other positive peer influencers. Let’s be intentional about raising up Godly influencers so the next generation can make a difference for Jesus!
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Kori Pennypacker is the CEO of Bible2School, where she oversees the mission and speaks to businesses, churches, and community leaders on the topic of the importance of spiritual training for children in our communities nationwide. She has over 20 years of experience in children’s ministry and leadership.
Bible2School equips communities across the nation to provide free elective Bible classes to elementary school children DURING their public school day. Their vision is that every public school in the nation would have a dynamic Bible program taught during their school day as allowed by national released time court rulings.
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