Cultivating a Godly Family

Why Passing Your Faith on to Your Kids is the Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Do

In a life full of worldly pursuits, money, fame, happiness, and stuff, when death comes, everything will be left behind. Not one successful person has ever been able to take their belongings with them into the hereafter. It’s a sad thing to have lived an entire life, and all pursuits are left to the wayside to be burned up.

Does that thought make you sad? You will leave everything you’ve ever strived for behind, when you die someday. You can’t take anything with you.

Or can you?

Raising Godly Children

Think with me for a moment, that there is one thing you can take with you to Heaven. I know! It sounds weird, but it’s true. You have the opportunity to take those people that you love, with you to Heaven; and specifically, your children.

 Now, of course, you can’t physically drag them to Heaven. Nor can you force your kids to desire Christ. However, if you take the time to teach your kids who God is, and the free gift of salvation that He offers us, then your kids may just join you in Heaven someday.

That thought excites me. And it terrifies me all at the same time. I mean, here I am, responsible for the hearts of my children. God has entrusted them to my husband and me to train and teach and disciple.

Though it scares me, it also excites me at the same time. As Christian parents we have a tremendous responsibility to train up our children in the wisdom and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

 The Bible gives us a warning about what could happen if we aren’t careful to raise godly children.

An Entire Generation Didn’t Know God

Let’s consider Joshua for a minute:

 When I read the account of Joshua’s death. I’m amazed. Joshua was a godly man who served the Lord with his whole heart. His faith was evident. People knew what he stood for and he obediently led the Israelites into God’s Promised Land. There was no wondering with this guy. He was sold out and radical. His faith in God was the real, deal.

Yet, take a look at what happened:

Deuteronomy 6:6-10 (ESV)

When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Look at the last part. It breaks my heart: An entire generation did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

What???

How could this be? I mean, it seems like Joshua’s life should have been evidence enough of his faith in God; that the next generation should have at least caught wind of the mighty works that God had done for them. And yet, a whole generation was devoid of faith in God once Joshua died.

 Incredible!

Passing Your Faith to the Next Generation

Will what happened to Joshua’s descendants happen to yours? Or will you heed the warning and see for yourself that in order to raise godly children, kids who really take hold of the faith and continue to live it out years after you’re gone, you must be intentional.

Raising kids who own their faith does not just happen.

Read that again.

If you want your kids to teach their kids to teach their kids (and so on) about the goodness of God and the free gift of salvation that He provides for us, then you must pass on the baton of faith to your kids and you must start now! It’s not too early (and it’s also not too late) to tell your kids of God’s excellent mercy.

You must disciple your family.

How to Disciple Your Family

If that thought scares you, or confuses you, fret not, my friend. Cultivating a Godly Home exists to walk you through the process of discipling your family. We start first with making sure your own faith is solid.

Then, we aim to strengthen your marriage and help you to put Christ at the center of your relationship with your spouse.

Finally, we teach you exactly how to disciple your family by providing you resources for teaching your kids how to grow in their faith. Then eventually, ultimately choosing a godly mate, so that your kids can, in turn, one day, raise godly kids of their own. It’s a beautiful cycle!

Discipling your family is not hard. Though I understand that it can be a bit intimidating. Discipling your kids is simply a commitment to living out your own faith in God in a sincere way, setting the example for your kids, and then teaching your kids to follow Christ in an intentional and tangible way.

Let’s break it down.

What Does Discipleship for Kids Look Like?

In our house, discipleship happens four ways.

1. Informal discipleship follows the pattern of Deuteronomy 6:6-9. We seek to provide an atmosphere in our home that is constantly revolving around the Bible. Our conversations are God-centered, and we spend time drawing out spiritual lessons from real life scenarios. This could be as simple as pointing out God’s provision for our kids while watching a deer graze in our field. We remind our kids of Matthew 6:24-34, which tells us that we don’t need to worry about anything because God is caring enough to provide for even the birds. We are always looking for opportunities to talk about God and His love for us with our children throughout each and every day.
2. Formal discipleship involves being intentional. We set aside a time each week to meet with our kids and cover material that we have previously decided would be appropriate for each child. Or older kids spend one-on-one time with either my husband or myself as we intentionally go through a Bible based book. This is a great time for hearing our kids hearts and knowing exactly what they are thinking. Through formal discipleship we have been able to really understand our kids hearts. It also allows us to keep a finger on our kids’ spiritual pulses. This time allows us to know if our kids are struggling with any doubts about God, or fears. We also can monitor their spiritual growth and milestones in a gentle way, without seeming intrusive to them. In our house, formal discipleship typically starts to take place around the age of 12 or 13, though we don’t have a hard and fast rule. We take each child’s unique needs into consideration and plan accordingly.
3. Family Worship is a time set aside each day that we spend together in the Word with our entire family. We follow the pattern outlined in this blog post.*** Family Worship teaches the kids that spending time praising God does not only happen on Sunday mornings, but rather, it’s an integral part of our life as believers.

The Importance of Family Worship

Why is family worship so important? As Christians, it’s important for our kids to know that our faith stretches beyond our church attendance. It’s very tempting to worship God on Sundays and then put Him on a shelf along with our Bibles for the rest of the week.

Family worship draws our hearts to God on a daily basis. Not only does it strengthen our faith, but it creates a bond in the family unit that runs deep. During family worship, we read scripture together, praise God together, and we pray for and with each other. Family worship is one of the most important ways to cultivate a godly home.

How to Lead Family Worship

Don’t let the thoughts of leading Family Worship intimidate you. It can be relaxed and informal or it can be structured. Tailor it to your family’s needs. There’s no right or wrong. This post*** will help give you some ideas for how to lead Family Worship.

What is the Biblical Role of a Parent in a Child’s Life

As Christian parents, your number one priority should be to raise your children to love the Lord. Ultimately, you want to take your children with you to Heaven, remember? But you don’t just want to make sure your kids accept Christ as their Savior. You also want them to grow in Christlikeness.

Your role is to teach your kids to love God, to accept his free gift of salvation, to lovingly guide them as they grows in their  faith, and to ultimately pass the baton of faith off to them, and prepare them to teach God’s love and faithfulness to the next generation, one day.

Raising a Godly Generation

Raising a Godly generation starts now!

We must be diligent to teach our kids and never let what happened in Joshua’s day, happen in our generation. We have work to do, souls to save, and kids to disciple. 

Let’s get going!

Before You Go, Check Out These Bible Verses About Raising Up the Next Generation

• Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 (ESV) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
• Deuteronomy 6:12a (ESV) Then take care lest you forget the Lord
• 2 Timothy 3:14-15 (ESV)  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
• Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
• Ephesians 6:4 (ESV) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Why Passing Your Faith on to Your Kids is the Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Do