A Home Foundation Centered on Jesus
“Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
There’s so much going on in the world right now, so much that it makes it sometimes feel harder and harder to see the light. A quick scroll through any major news media or even through social media, and you’ll often see headlines that continue to steal away God’s light.
In a world that seems to be spiraling out of control at the moment, it may feel hard to find steady ground. It’s almost hard sometimes to find the ground that is solid and durable. That will last through the hard days, the rain storms and the good days. We need now more than ever, a solid foundation that will stand the test of time. Right now, we need Christians who are raising strong Christians who will continue to shed God’s light during the dark days. We need a foundation built on the rock.
But when you’re trying to build a solid foundation, where do you start? Why do you really need to? What will the outcome be from building your house solid on the rock?
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Let’s start with the HOW.
How do we build a home centered on Christ? How do we raise children who are confident in being a child of God? Well for starters, we need to evaluate our own faith journey. While not everyone who reads this may belong to a particular faith, most anyone can find a church that they resonate with these days. What does your church attendance look like? Are you going daily, monthly, sporadically or just for the holidays and important things? While there are many people who will argue that they don’t need a church to have a relationship with God (no argument there), there’s an abundance of fruit from regular church attendance that will spill over into your life.
Attending church regularly shows your children that God is not just an occasional thing or just for Christmas. Seeing people worship every Sunday shows your children that Jesus is so much bigger than a baby born in a manger. He’s the anchor to the recently widowed mother; the strength to the cancer patient and the comfort to the mother burdened with mental health issues. Jesus is the peacemaker and the wonder counselor that we all crave within our days. But how can we nurture a loving relationship with Him if we aren’t first showing up at His house?
By attending church regularly, your hearts will also open up to new relationships within your church, which in turn will bring much fruit itself. You may begin to involve yourself in bible studies, volunteer efforts and coffee dates that can begin to slowly change your life and help you grow spiritually. You will find yourself surrounded by people that exude a distinct peace and joy that you want a part of.
What does your life look like when you’re not at church on Sunday? Is the Lord only remembered on Sundays or do you read God’s word together, regularly? Do you have deep conversations about what God wanted and the miraculous things that he did? Are you singing hymns or praising him in the car? Do you have a family prayer time? Do you pray before meals? Is there a cross or relic or books within your children’s reach?
Your faith isn’t just for Sundays. We have to strive to have daily conversations about Jesus Christ with our children.
“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
Let’s look at the WHY.
We all can sit here and talk about the beautiful things that focusing on Jesus Christ will do for your family. But if we go even deeper we can uncover so much more that He can do for your children in the years to come. Quite often teenagers and college kids may sleep in on Sundays and place the importance of church and God on the back burner (I am guilty there), but providing them a childhood that is rich in faith provides them a safety net to fall back on. In other words, they will not depart. Most young adults will eventually find their way back to Jesus Christ in some way or another. By instilling this love for their faith and God early on, you’re essentially giving them a wonder counselor to last all of their days on earth.
By having an upbringing that is strong in faith, we provide children with the means to turn to God when things get hard and eventually, to turn to God every day (not just when the going gets tough). When life throws it’s modern diagnosis of anxiety, hyperactivity, depression or poor health our way, we remember that we have an anchor to hold onto. When life feels overwhelming for the new mom, she remembers that there’s a great counselor out there. When the world feels like it’s closing in, families remember there’s a peacemaker for us.
Giving your children a childhood that extends beyond just the education of a church pew on Sundays, a childhood that is rich in the word and in an intimate relationship with God, provides your child a lifetime supply of true peace and joy because they’ll know how to access that relationship with God. Our children will sin and will not be perfect and may stray at times. But giving them a solid foundation in their upbringing where they know how to tap into their heavenly father, helps to provide them with the tools and means to understand how to reach God, even when they haven’t visited Him in forever.
Imagine on their darkest days that a verse instilled into their memory may save them or when they are going through the trials of parenting one day, they will have the peace to navigate it.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
You have to start somewhere.
It’s never too late to start teaching your children on the word. Don’t feel that because you haven’t been to church in forever or because you were not raised in a strong, faith filled home that you can’t start now. It doesn’t take much - a bible, a church and some faithful friends will help. And it will takes lots and lots of prayer.
The world is closing in on us and trying to normalize sin. Mental health cases are high, depression and anxiety are high and so much more. We can’t keep our children from something that can save them! Parenting is hard work and we will never have all of the right answers. But there’s only one true answer and one true parenting book!
I don’t have to parent to please the world so my children will fit in here. I am parenting to please God, so they will eventually fit into Heaven.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
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