How to Teach Kids How to Abide in Christ

A while back a friend of mine got a dog. To say a few things changed when Marley arrived is an understatement. Thanks to status updates everyday, I’ve been able to “meet” her. Not only do I get to see how adorable she is but I also get a peek into the adventures this family is having as they enjoy the newest member of their household.

As I read the series of Facebook posts that followed in the days after Marley’s arrival I was reminded of what it means to abide in Christ.

Join me over at Faith Gateway as I share what I learned. There’s also some tips on how we cant teach our kids to abide in Christ too!

Establishing a Culture of Faith in Your Home

I grew up going to church. My family attended service every week and occasionally I’d go to youth group. Our relationship with God extended past Sundays, and throughout the week my mom would incorporate prayer, Bible reading, and listening to worship music into our daily routine. Our conversations, whether about our day, finances, politics, or community, often included nuggets of truth from God’s Word.

Without knowing it, my parents created a culture in our home where our faith could grow.

We were far from the perfect Christian family. We had our shares of ups and downs, accompanied by sin, doubt, and ultimately redemption. I had front row seat to the miracles God performed but also to the mess of flawed individuals living together in a broken world.

As a high school and college student, there were times when I was tempted to leave the whole faith thing behind and do life my way. But there was something that held me back. I believe that it was not only the love of my Heavenly Father but the culture of faith in my home

Culture, no matter what values and beliefs its rooted in, is not a list of dos and don'ts. But instead, the essence of how a family relates to one another, works together, and achieves goals.

A strong family culture exists when you determine and walk out the values, beliefs, and customs or traditions you want to share with one another.

Through small consistent steps over time, you can create a culture of faith in your home that will grow your faith and the faith of your family.

Here are few steps help you establish a culture of faith in your home:

• Name it - Decide what you believe and what are the main principles you are passionate about passing down to your children. These are similar to your top five core values. Brand it - Make it exciting by putting words around what you believe. Create a mantra, mission statement, or manifesto.

• Model it - Intentionally put action around what you believe.

• Teach it - Teach it again and again. Culture continually putting words around what you believe. Talk repeatedly about what you believe and why it is meaningful to you.

• Systematize it - Create habits and behaviors that align with your beliefs. Evaluate them often and refine as needed.

• Celebrate it - Acknowledge the success each of you has, big or small, that is a result of the actions you’ve taken.

You can apply these steps to any value you want to incorporate into your life.

Just like my family, yours will not be perfect because you’ve followed these steps. However, over time you will create an environment in your home that allows your family’s faith to grow, which will ultimately anchor them to what matters to the most to you.

Encouraging Your Teen To Grow in their Faith

It took years for me to learn that getting to know God isn’t hard or boring at all and spending time with Him doesn’t look the same for everyone. There is no one-way to do it. In fact, the way I spend time with God looks different in every season of my life.

When talking to my daughter about getting to know God, I ask her to consider how she became so close with her BBFs. Then I explained to her that it’s not very different from getting to know God.

Join me over at More to Be as I talk about how to encourage your teen to grow their faith.

Wrestling, Fear, and Faith - An Experience with the Read it Pray it Card

I'm so excited to share with you an experience we had with fear and he conquered it with the Word of God and the Read it Pray it Cards. I created these cards for my children and me to memorize scripture and pray bedtime prayers, but we are using them for more than that.

---

My son loves sports! He has played every sport our town rec club has to offer. This year he narrowed it down to his favorites: soccer, wrestling, and baseball.

My son wrestles in the winter. Last year he practiced with the program, but never actually competed. This year he made the varsity team because they needed lightweights to wrestle with the big boys. He was so excited when the season started but soon became discouraged. His teammates and coaches were great. However, he was getting his butt kicked at matches. Match after match my son fought back the tears as the ref raised the hand of the winner

I am not a newbie to wrestling; I worked with it for ten years. I know it is not for the faint of heart. It's one on one competition, you and your opponent. There's no team to back you up or make up for your mistakes or lack of skill. To see my son struggle emotionally was hard.

I spoke to his coach; we decided that it would be a good idea for my little man to wrestles some JV matches so he could get some wins under his belt. It was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, even after a few victories, he started to lose his nerve.

Then it happened. At a local tournament, my little man refused to wrestle. He became nasty and rude and said he wanted to go home. I didn't understand what was going on at first; he is winning matches, why was he so upset? Once we got in the car, the tears started to flow. He was scared to lose, worried he was going to cry in front of everyone if he did. FEAR

I asked him, “Where does fear come from, God?”

“No mommy.”

God didn’t give us a spirit that makes us weak and fearful. He gave us a spirit that gives us power and love. It helps us control ourselves . 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIrV)

I got fired up! I told him he didn’t have to put up with fear. Yes, it was going to come, but he had to decide what to do with it when it did. Was he going to let it keep him from doing what he loves?

I reminded him the best way to tackle fear was to know the Word of God and speak it when he feels scared.

Immediately he remembered his scriptures cards. The provided him easy access to exactly what God says about fear. When we got home he found his cards, took out the four on fear, and read the verses and prayed the prayers. Then he surprised me. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote each of the prayers out as one big prayer, and inserted the word wrestling where it fit.

I knew that that's what these prayers are for but I was beyond thrilled to see my 8-year old put them into action.

Every night that week he prayed the Word of God. The following weekend he wrestled two matches without hesitation. He even brought the prayers to the tournament just in case he needed to take some time to himself to pray.

The rest of the season still had its bumps. They were times he didn’t want to wrestle but he never walked away from an event without competing like he did earlier in the season.

There will be many others times when he will come up against a situation that he will not be able to face in his strength or wisdom. I am so grateful that he has experienced applying the Word of God to his circumstance.

---

Want to get a set of the Read it Pray it cards?

Check out my Etsy shop HERE. It includes digital downloads as well as professionally printed cards.