How to Raise Christian Children as a Fallible Parent

by | character building

How to Raise Christian Children as a Fallible Parent www.joyinthehome.com

Raising children in today’s culture isn’t easy, yet raising Christian children seems to be even more challenging then ever.  In the 20 years of parenting, I have heard so many parents say, “Well, we did it as children.”, “They will outgrow this stage.” or “I can’t expect them to want to be a Christian until after their college days.”

For me, I didn’t want my children to walk down the same path I walked down, because the consequences or situations were not best for them and knowing that there was a better way, I wanted to do everything I could to help them make better choices than I made as a teen. I believe that having a firm focus on discipling your children is important to their Christian walk and yours.

As I looked over my own life, the stages that I experienced, like: rebellion, dishonor, lying or poor judgement could never be outgrown, but overcome with better choices through a lot of good advice from those who knew better.  For a parent to overlook the stages that pre-teens and teens go through, just because you are afraid of even more of the bad things, you need to realize that it is through habit that character is formed.

Waiting to influence our children with our faith when they are older is only taking chances with their eternity. Statistics show that many children walk away from their faith in college, not find it afterwards.

Knowing and admitting your failures as a Christian is a healthy thing for your own growth, but also for your children to understand that salvation is a gift, and to be a Christian means a fallible person who repents for their shortcomings and does what they can to live as Christ.

Here are keys to remember when raising Christian Children:

  • Disciple your children from the time they are young
  • encourage your children with scripture
  • admit to your children where you struggle as a Christian
  • quickly ask for forgiveness when they see you err
  • be quick to forgive others

Here are some good things to encourage you on raising Christians children and helping you in your own walk as well:

Faith

Faith {For Kids}