Purposed Parent Connected Child Podcast Episode 096 - How Parents Can Guide Children to Live Out Faith in a Secular World
Welcome to the Purposed Parent/Connected Child podcast – Episode 096 – How Parents Can Guide Their Children to Live Out Faith in a Secular World
Thank you for sharing your day with me. I pray this podcast deepens your walk with Jesus and your children, equipping you to become a set-apart woman and mother.
One afternoon my youngest child came to me as I worked in the office, her smile beaming so brightly. She pushed her palm toward me, and in it, rested a tiny cherry tomato grown in her garden.
As I reached for her gift, thoughts swarmed my mind. "I'm not hungry." "I already had several tomatoes today and too many cause stomach problems." "I hope she washed it." As fast as those negativities pressed at me, God covered them with His truth. "How loving of her to think of me."
So I returned her joy with a smile of my own and reached for her offering. After popping the fruit in my mouth to taste the sweet juice, I had one reply. "You grow the best cherry tomatoes."
How often are we presented with gifts such as this? A moment that seems like an interruption becomes a divine meeting between opportunity and a decision to love. After we hugged and I thanked her for thinking of me, we chatted a bit and she left my side with a spring in her step and delight on her face.
She felt like the best gardener in the world. A giving daughter. Thoughtful. She felt seen. Appreciated. How easily I could have ruined the moment.
Mothers, how often are you presented with Heaven-sent opportunities? Most likely, many times a day. Maybe you seize each one like a savored treasure. Or maybe you don’t recognize the instant it appears, and see only problems or pressures. Instead, look for moments you can choose to grasp, not allow to flutter to the ground unused.
This is one example of how we can guide our children to live their faith. We build a closeness that surpasses the rush of this world and allows a glimpse of Heaven to enter the chaos life can bring. We teach our children to understand the beauty of giving and thinking of others. We don’t stop the natural tendency they carry to please. We mold those characteristics into qualities they will use to serve and honor God and others. We don’t rob their joy or crush their tender spirit.
Today we’re going to share more ways mothers can be purposed in helping our children build a strong foundation that equips them to live out a lasting faith in this secular world.
First, we need to identify what our children need to guide and grow them toward faith that lasts for eternity. In order to do that, we need to realize the effects of the secular world your child lives in.
Even if you have invested in a private or Christian school, or you homeschool your children, the world and the culture created by it seep into their lives. Extended family, neighbors, strangers in the store, classmates, social media, television shows, movies, games, music, books, language, (the list is long) – all pose the potential to have a positive or negative impact on your child’s faith.
Do you know what types of challenges your children are currently facing?
Do you understand what they are likely to face in the future?
How does that knowledge impact your parenting style?
Do worldly values affect your faith and relationship with God?
Your relationship with God affects your child’s ability to maintain strong faith in a secular world.
The truth is that you must be strengthening your faith in order to build the foundation for your children.
You must study and know God’s Word in order to teach Biblical worldview to your children.
You must also study God’s Word with your children. They must see that you prioritize the Father.
You must make prayer a priority for yourself and your family.
You must weave God into daily life. He is real and His presence in your home must be real, too.
You must regularly discuss how Biblical truths must be a foundation for worldview. Show your children how to live the truths you believe.
You must be the fragrance of Christin your home. In order to do so, you must inhale Christ moment by moment so you can exhale Him in your words, desires, actions, reactions, habits, and lifestyle.
Some of the ways you can set your children up for successfully living faith out in the world for others to see Jesus, are as follows. Today we’re going to address 19 ways. Don’t worry about taking notes. Listen and absorb, then remember to look at terrihitt.com/podcast to see the complete listing in transcript form.
1. Guard the innocence and safety of your children. Use biblical discernment to guide activities and events. For example, in present society, most moms agree that it’s not wise to allow children to attend sleepovers. Although the Bible doesn’t specifically address this topic, it does give advice on being wise parents.
2. Point out life situations that aren’t biblical. Whether it be movies, books, games, attire, actions, or more, let your children know why something wouldn’t be pleasing to God. Don’t use personal likes or dislikes to guide you. Take your opinion back to biblical truths to see what God said on the topic. Teach them to study Scripture so that when a particular topic is not addressed, they will know God’s guidance on the issue because they know already Him through the Word. For example, God values life, as His Word clearly says. Although the Bible doesn’t clearly say, “Do not have an abortion,” the topic is addressed in His character and Scripture.
3. Model listening to praise and worship music. Find songs that carry strong Scriptural truths and sing them at home. Even if your older children don’t enjoy them at first, over time, the words will seep into their spirit. God’s Word never returns void.
4. Dress your children modestly. Begin when they’re young. For example, if you don’t want your daughter to wear bikinis when she becomes a teen, don’t dress her in them as a toddler.
5. Watch what you model in desires, words, and actions. If you don’t want your children to use profanity, drink, smoke, or do drugs, don’t partake in them yourself. Your children always learn more from your actions than your words.
6. Introduce Jesus to your children as soon as you have them. It’s never too early. Even a baby in the womb is able to hear the Bible in utero. The first night we had our ten month old baby home from China I read the book, “The Story of Jesus” to her. It brought calm when nothing else soothed her. With my two youngest children we were able to incorporate Christian music in the home as soon as we had them. We did Bible studies, even when they were newly home and didn’t understand English. I would draw photos or act out stories to bring about understanding. Take the steps God desires to plant the seeds and allow Him to work in their life.
7. Be purposed and consistent in modeling relationship with Christ. As they see you read the Bible, pray, pray with them and for them, and seek Christ in all you do and consider, they will be more apt to pay attention when you show and speak about the Lord daily. You are building that foundation your child will build a house of faith upon. You want your children to pursue relationship with Jesus, not a religion with rules and regulations.
8. Teach your children how to refer to God’s Word and to use biblical worldview when shaping values, actions, desires, reactions, and relationships.
9. Show them how to serve others and Christ in and out of the home.
10. Don’t aspire to raise what the world calls typical children. God calls you and I to raise set-apart children. Nothing about Christ is typical. Jesus went against worldly values and held all to a godly standard.
11. Strive to parent the heart of your children, not the behavior. You want to discipline to disciple, not punish. All you do should be done with a heart to serve the Lord and raise children who know, honor, love, and obey Him with joy.
12. Develop relationship with your children through Christ so they value your opinion over that of peers. When you spend time getting to know your children, not just bark orders at them, you develop a closeness that must be in place in order for them to respect you or God.
13. Enlist prayer partners to pray specific requests and Scriptures for your children. I know my children are following the Lord in part due to those who held my family in prayer over many years.
14. Go to church regularly as a family. But don’t go out of duty or obligation. Make it a time to draw nearer to God and each other. Do it for relationship. Don’t treat church as a religion.
15. Read and study God’s Word together. Pray together and for each other.
16. View yourself not just as a parent, but as a mentor assigned by God to bring your children to Christ.
17. Regularly discuss current world issues together and talk about how Jesus would respond to them. Discern from Scripture what God’s belief is on the topic you are discussing.
18. Make family traditions and activities honoring to Christ. Whether it be Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or other birthdays or holidays, bring God into the plan. He ordained the day and is waiting to be invited to the events.
19. Combat worldly educational indoctrination with godly education. As this world continues to shift and teach children ungodly deceit such as changing sex, sex before marriage, fluid pronouns, and more, use those opportunities to educate your child with loving, godly truths. Work through questions or situations that arise with the Bible as your guide. God’s Word holds all the answers we need. We just need to make the time to find them. Without reading the Word, we can’t help our children apply it or choose to be faithful to it.
If you feel overwhelmed or unsure if you can handle these steps, ask God for His guidance. Pray for Him to show you opportunities. The more you listen to His promptings and step out in obedience, the easier your walk will be. Start with one thing you can do to better honor Christ and keep looking Up as you move forward to guide your children to live out faith in this secular world.
Remember, if you’d like guided steps on how to incorporate these areas into your life and parenting, this is exactly what I equip you to do in the Set-Apart Collective.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for Your great provision and protection on our life. We praise You for entrusting us to watch Your children and guide them to You. Equip us to know the ways to their heart. Help us know You so well that we can’t help but shine You to them and others. May Your light burst forth so brightly that Your presence and love cannot be denied. May our children seek You because they have been taught Your truths. May they recognize deceit in this world. Help us not to ignorantly steer them in the wrong ways. Keep us in Your arms so they will rest at Your feet. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Raising children is challenging. No one has all the answers because each child is unique as are parenting styles and family dynamics. By connecting with and knowing your children as you maintain purposed growth in Christ, you will be better prepared for any situation you face.
That’s why you hear me share about the Set-Apart Collective in this podcast. I work with moms of littles from infancy to upper grade school. Are you a high achieving woman who loves Jesus, but is so busy with the rush of work and daily life that you feel like you’re being drained like the water in your bathtub? Do you yearn to get closer to Jesus and show Him to your kids so you will create a love that will last into eternity? The desire is there, but your days spiral out of control before you even think about opening your Bible.
Do you ever stop to think that you are the first Jesus your child will see? Let me remind you there is hope. There is a way you can be equipped to raise kids who chase Christ over culture. If you want a connected relationship with Christ and your children that leads them to your side and His feet, instead of them seeking validation from peers, I have an 8-step program to move you from frustrated to fulfilled. I will show you how to reflect Jesus in a way that attracts your family to a connected relationship that lasts into eternity.
Remember, godly parenting is rooted in relationship with Christ and the mindset you carry. If you don’t want peers and culture to be the main influence over your child, if you desire to parent to “prepare” your child for eternity with Christ, not repair your relationship with them, the Set-Apart Collective will arm you with a Christ-centered Motherhood Mindset Model™, and create a Purposed Parenting Plan™. You’ll also deepen your identity in Christ so you can mentor the way for your children to do the same. You will be a purposed mother with an intentional mind and heart set on Christ and your family.
Does this sound like a lifeline to help you be that set-apart mom God has entrusted you to be? Visit terrihitt.com/coaching and click the link for a free, no obligation conversation call with me. This is a strategic call where I will hear your biggest struggle and show you how to turn it into a blessing that will bring you closer to Christ and your children. It’s time for believing mothers to be purposed in preparing their children for a lifetime pursuit of Christ. Time is short. Make yours matter for eternity.
One last thing to remember - if you’re not purposed in knowing Jesus and showing Him to the next generation, the world will likely sway your children away from Christ. I pray that what you hear on this podcast enables you to stop being a good mom and focus on being a godly parent. Until next week, keep looking Up while focusing on new ways to parent with eternal purpose and connection with your children and Christ.