Growing Together

How can I disciple my children when my own faith is a little shaky and when I don’t know enough about the Faith to disciple anyone? (Part 1)

When I first dove into the Bible for help on parenting and teaching my children about God I came across a period in Israel’s history that at first didn’t make any sense.

The generation of Israelites that God called rebellious and stiff-necked (the ones who died in the wilderness because they were not allowed in the Promised Land) brought up a generation of children who served God and conquered Canaan.

Then that wonderful generation of God serving Israelites brought up a generation that turned their back on God and started serving idols.

Like parents, like children?

This was understandably confusing to me because I started out with the notion that I was going to do my best to raise my children God’s way believing that I’d get the desired results. In other words I figured that good Christian parents should have good Christian kids and Worldly parenting would result in Worldly kids—not the opposite.

As I read more and prayed I realized what I was missing. The whole time that the first generation was growing up in the wilderness with their stiff-necked parents, they were watching their parents learn. They saw them really get it wrong and get in trouble for it. They watched them repent and when they saw them obey God they saw the positive results. The children were growing in their faith with their parents.

Unfortunately when those kids grew up and entered the Promised Land they apparently thought that they had arrived.  Their children did not have to experience what they had experienced with their parents.

Running the race together

This realization got me singing my happy song because I am not perfect. I came from a broken home, I was young in the Faith and back then I did not know anything about bringing up godly kids.

If you are in a similar situation you can sing your happy song or tap your happy toes or whatever you do because the Bible shows us that growing in Christ with your kids is the right way to do it.

The New Testament teaches that we are to continue to grow in our Faith (Philippians 1:6) and that we do not arrive at the end of that journey until we reach Heaven. So if God was looking for parents to be perfect before he gave them children, the church would have died off long ago.

No, his plan is that we grow with our children, along side of them from start to finish. Do not worry about where you are at. Make a decision about where you are going and let your kids know that you are going there together.

My recommendation, based on God’s Word and what worked for me is that you humbly rejoice that you do not know what you are doing and get moving, learning and growing with your kids. Let them see you grow and teach them what you learn.

In the next blog (part 2) we will talk about getting help from The Third Parent.

Recommended Book

(RICK OSBORNE / Christian Author, Speaker & Dad - your source for Christian Parenting advice)