A Faith Their Own – Part 2
In my last post, I talked about how if you want your kids to have a faith of their own, you have to Imagine the End. As parents, it is important to have a plan for where we want our kids to end up when they leave our homes. We are going to continue talking about ways to help your kids create a faith of their own.
The church as whole is great. We get the opportunity each week to teach kids and youth about Jesus and give them the opportunity to begin a personal relationship with Him.
The only problem is our influence with kids is limited. On average we are limited to about 40 hours a year, when you consider vacations and sickness. In contrast parents get on average 3000 hours a year.
3000 Hours
It is easy to see from the pictures above, who has the greater impact. That is why I believe…
What happens at home is more important than what happens at church.
Our kids need our influence as parents, but we also have to be strategic in how we influence those 3000 hours. In order to help our kids have a faith their own, we have to WIDEN THE CIRCLE.
When you widen the circle, the goal is to have other trusted adults in the lives of children before then need them so they will be there when they need them.
Widening the Circle involves pursuing strategic relationships so another adult voice or voices will be speaking into your son or daughter’s life, saying the kinds of things you would try to say as a parent. The older our kids get the more important it is for them to have other voices in their lives saying the same things but in a different way.
The reality is that a time comes in all children’s lives when they seem to care more about what another adult says than they care about what their own parent’s say.
The truth is children have a better chance of understanding and interpreting life-changing truth when multiple influences in their lives are saying the same thing.
Mark Kely of LifeWay research said
28% of teens who had at least one adult from church make a significant time investment in their lives were more likely to keep attending church. More of those who stayed in church—by a margin of 46% to 28%—said five or more adults at church invested time with them personally and spiritually.
After my dad passed, there were a few men that took it upon themselves to invest in my brother and I. One of which, Bob Pattan, is still actively engaged in my life. Having him and his wife Sheree in my life has been one of the biggest blessings. My parents had become friends with Bob and Sheree and they developed a friendship that widened the circle. Because of this relationship, I have two other people who are so invested in my life, they daily are praying for me and my wife, and my son. They, along with my mom prayed for me growing up, they prayed when I was younger for the wife I would one day marry.
How many other trusted adults are investing into your kids spiritually?
If you don’t have any start by looking in your LIFEgroup. If you aren’t in one, get plugged in to a LIFEgroup.
God never intended life to be lived in isolation, and what’s true of individuals is also true of families. We were created to be in community.
If you want your kids to develop a faith of their own, you have to Widen the Circle.
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