Give Your Kids a Spiritual Foundation

Heart Happy

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What type of spiritual heritage did you come from? What type of spiritual heritage do you pass on? Personally, my mother and grandmother accepted Christ when I was a child. The “before” and “after” of what God did in their lives is very clear in my mind. I saw the difference God made, and when I was heading down a dark path in my own life as a teenager, I turned to God, hoping He could make the same transformation in my life. He did!

It was only later—after I’d been a Christian for most of my adult life—I discovered my biological father’s side of the family has an amazing spiritual heritage of God-loving men and woman, including pastors, university chancellors, missionaries, and circuit preachers! The more I discovered my family’s history, the more I understood that God has been up to something.

Now, I get to be part of that spiritual heritage.

What about you? Do you understand your spiritual heritage? What about your kids? Do they understand theirs? If you don’t want your kids to wander, if you don’t want them to question their purpose on this earth, you have to give them a spiritual foundation.

What is not passed down is lost.

I have another example of this. My grandma is full-blooded Hispanic. Her parents were immigrants to the United States, and she grew up speaking Spanish. My great-grandmother spoke only Spanish, and my mother grew up speaking it, as well. But they didn’t pass it on. I only know about twenty Spanish words. I look Hispanic, but that’s about it. I’m sad for the heritage I’ve missed!

What are you passing on to your kids?

Take some time today and write down the top ten spiritual “wows” from your life. Here are some questions to get you started:

When did you accept Christ?
When did God answer a specific prayer?
When did God feel especially close?

Once you have your list, take time over the next few weeks to share your “God stories” with your children.

Welcome their questions. Feel free to add other “God stories” from people you know. Each story, each testimony, will be a brick in your child’s spiritual foundation.

Then, take it another step; help your child record his or her own spiritual milestones. Buy a journal or a notebook and create a spiritual journal with your child. In it, help them keep track of:

Date:

What God Did:

My Prayer:

My Praise:

The pages of this journal will be the glue that will hold your child’s foundation together. As the years pass, your child will become aware of God’s work in their world and in their lives.