The Value of Family and Faith

(Image courtesy: graphicstock.com)

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”- Joshua 24:15

Every night, before Liam falls asleep, Natasha and I put our hands into his crib and say “Let’s pray!” He grabs both of our hands, goes silent, and waits patiently until we finish. I didn’t think he really knew what was going on, but once he went silent, I knew he was holding on to something larger than our hands.

We are setting a standard for our son now for his faith in the future. Natasha and I pray before meals with him and he fusses when he isn’t close enough to touch one of our hands before the prayer starts. He is learning the value of prayer at this young age in order to; hopefully, enhance his relationship with God later.

Scripture is clear about my responsibility as a father and very clear about our roles as parents. We are to raise our kids up in the ways of our Lord. We are to make sure our kids are loved, served, understand their responsibility to serve, love, and care for everyone around them. There is a morality we are to teach our kids in relationship with their connection with Jesus as a part of the creation.

We have a role in teaching them their connection with Church and the body of Christ. They are the present members of the body and have roles to play, but through that role they move the Church into the future.

If we fail to show the value of Church or a relationship with Christ, then we can only point to ourselves when the world wins in corrupting their spirit. We can point fingers all we want at the moral decline of the world and how it negatively influences our kids, but if we are unable to teach them their value in Christ and who they are made to be through Him, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Now, the priority of Christ in your life will flow over into the life your child, which is scary for some. The value of a family in this world is found in finances, sports, grades, etc. However, the value of a Christian family is found in their faith. The finances, sports stats, grades/diplomas, etc. will fade, but the faith will last forever as generations continue to embrace their role in the kingdom passed -down from the valuable family before them.

We may not always get it right, but when we guide our kids in the way of the Lord, we are moving in a right direction.

I end the night telling Liam, “You are going to do great things someday!”  I feel like this is the foundation he needs to have as he embraces His life as God’s workmanship, created to do great things in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10).

QUESTION: What are you doing to assist in your child’s everlasting faith?