I wanted to talk about being intentional with your children in their spiritual lives during this series. Faith has to be taught, and practiced in order for our children to see and want to develop it in their own lives. Of course God doesn’t need us to save our children, that is HIS job but if we want our children to grow up knowing God we need to be intentional with our faith!
I thought Sunday would be a great day to do these posts for so the next four Sunday’s will cover a different spiritual topic!
If you are regular church goers taking your children to church when they are really young is easy. I don’t mean “easy” physically because it can be quite a challenge getting everyone out the door on a Sunday morning, especially with baby/toddler gear but it is easy to make them go!
As your children grow it become much more of a challenge. Your children want to sleep in, sports schedules come out that include Sunday’s, and your teens get jobs. All of a sudden you have children that can drift away from church!
I’m not here to tell you what decisions you and your family should make, every family has to do what they feel is best for them and it is between them and God but I will caution you that facts show once children get in a habit of not going to church it is very difficult to get them back there! If you are young parents I would encourage you now to start boundaries and rules about church that you will carry with you as your children grow. If you don’t the time will creep up on you and you will be forced to make decisions on the fly and it will not always be easy! The parents are the spiritual leaders and you have to ask yourself now how important that is in your family life?
Photo credit: Dr Tony Evans
Here are our rules:
Our children must attend church as long as they live in our home. NO exceptions!
No sports or other activities that will replace church! If you do allow this keep in mind, it is very hard to say church and your walk with God is the most important but every other thing comes before it.
Church cannot save us, or our children. It is only part of the spiritual walk but our children need to know it is a priority in our lives!
5 Reasons to take your children to church:
1. God says to: This one answer is really the only one we need! Hebrews 10:25-27 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation.” God knows that falling away doesn’t usually just happen, it is a gradual thing and when church is optional or just occasionally it is hard to stay the course!
2. Knowledge about the God, Jesus and the Bible – Church should NOT be the only place they hear the “Good News”, it should be a way of life! But we can learn so much at church with the knowledge of teachers and pastors. We want our children to do so as well!
3. Church Family – The church family can create a wonderful second family, sometimes closer than our blood family! Over the years our church family has blessed us so much with prayer, meals, love, and more. This can be a wonderful experience for our children.
4. Worship – It is so important that we have times to just worship the Lord! Taking our children to church teaches them how important it is to just glorify the Lord; look at all HE has done for us!
5. Being around Fellow Believers – Now here me when I say this, I KNOW not all believers are perfect and I KNOW some people truly are just downright hypocrites, not just sinners saved by grace! However being around fellow believers helps encourage our children in their faith and gives them others to look to for spiritual guidance and friendship! Will it be perfect? NO, we are dealing with people and believers are NOT perfect but there should be a difference in them and the world and it is great experience for our kids to be around like minded people!
We are living in a very heart sick culture. If we are not intentional in our spiritual aspects of our children’s lives the world will be!
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I am mostly in agreement with the above, and like you say it is good to decide what is right to do for your own family.
For example, my husband is not a church goer.
When I was in my early 20’s and single I went to every service (3 a week) and morning prayer (7 a week).
A couple in the church also did the same.
It was great to see their commitment, but it saddened me that they were invited to a large family gathering on a Sunday morning and would not go because they would miss one church service that day.
What a terrible shame that they did not go as their family only felt even more out of their lives than before.
I have a non-church going husband and so I am mindful that I have to show him Christ. To me, this means sometimes spending a Sunday morning showing him me being near to, and like, Christ, does not mean I have to go to church every single week.
I think it is foolish to say that missing church means something is more important than Christ.
Jesus is about Grace and relationships as well as gathering together as believers.
(please note I go to church a lot, and am not saying not to go – but I am not religious and so do not feel I have to go every week when there are relationships to be nurtured that day too)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Lisa, they are always welcome here!!
“Foolish” is a strong word, Lisa.
Thanks for your comment about how bringing your family to church can allow you all to make long-lasting friends. I like how you sad that it is a good way to show your kids how important God is in your lives. My husband and I are considering looking into Christian churches near us to take our kids too and teach them to worship and love their God.
One of the best things you can do! Thanks for the visit!
Thank you for listing the reasons why I should take my children to church. I like how you mentioned that the church family can create a wonderful secondary family for our children. It would really be a wonderful experience for our children to have that option.