Your intentional investment in your kids begins with how you spend your time pursuing the Lord and living your life to honor Him. You are modeling what your kids will believe about Jesus and how they will follow Him. They are responsible for their decisions, but you are on the hook for the example that you set for them and for the expectations that you have for them. That’s why it’s essential that your family discipleship plan begin with your relationship with God so that you are serving as a Godly example for your family as you live out your genuine walk with God.
None of us will walk in perfection before God and our kids, but we can all live spiritual practices that help us keep God first in our lives. Disciplines such as personal Bible reading, serving others, connecting in a small group, and worshiping regularly do two things for parents. First, they keep parents centered on their relationship with God and they live a life worth their kids imitating.
When Proverbs 22:6 tells parents to train up our kids in the way they should go, that starts with parents being their primary role models of the faith. Here’s a simple strategy to become a model worth following: if there is something in your life that you would like to see formed in your children, pray, study, and work that it would be formed in you to model for them. Is there a spiritual habit that you would like to see your kids practice? Spend time doing it yourself.
A part of modeling your faith is prioritizing worshiping and connection with your church family. If we expect our kids to value church, we must show that it is a value to us by making regular, consistent worship the norm of the family. In addition, we must commit ourselves to small group community. Faith formation happens in relationships and your whole family needs them. [That's why we require that parents be involved in a Parkway small group for their kids to participate in Impact Kids.]
None of us will walk in perfection before God and our kids, but we can all live spiritual practices that help us keep God first in our lives. Disciplines such as personal Bible reading, serving others, connecting in a small group, and worshiping regularly do two things for parents. First, they keep parents centered on their relationship with God and they live a life worth their kids imitating.
When Proverbs 22:6 tells parents to train up our kids in the way they should go, that starts with parents being their primary role models of the faith. Here’s a simple strategy to become a model worth following: if there is something in your life that you would like to see formed in your children, pray, study, and work that it would be formed in you to model for them. Is there a spiritual habit that you would like to see your kids practice? Spend time doing it yourself.
A part of modeling your faith is prioritizing worshiping and connection with your church family. If we expect our kids to value church, we must show that it is a value to us by making regular, consistent worship the norm of the family. In addition, we must commit ourselves to small group community. Faith formation happens in relationships and your whole family needs them. [That's why we require that parents be involved in a Parkway small group for their kids to participate in Impact Kids.]
Posted in Family Discipleship