I love Casting Crown's newest song...Slow Fade. Being a children's pastor, the song immediately touched my heart the first time I heard it. Click on it and really invest yourself in what the message of this song is about. Then continue to read my blog below the video link. I do have important words to say to families of all shapes and sizes.
We parents have a HUGE responsibility. God has COMMANDED US to train up our children in Christ. The church is there to support parents in helping their child hear the Word, grow in Christ, and in discipling their child. But God never meant for the church to be the primary spiritual caregiver to the child. Children are only at church for 2 to 4 hours a week. Quite frankly, we parents have the most influence on our children and are the ones our children watch more than anyone else.
"Be careful little eyes what you see..." Casting Crowns remind us in this song that it's the ones who come behind us that are watching us, copying us, modeling their lives after ours. I'm going to ask you a tough question. Please think honestly about your answer. My question is meant to streghthen your faith and your family.
From a spiritual perspective, are you living the type of life you want your children to emulate?
If not, then what do you need to do to change that? You see, children learn by copying others. What they see you do, they will do also. Do you model Christ daily and live for Him daily? If not, then take another listen to the song, because it's the little feet that come behind whose ETERNAL LIVES ARE AT STAKE!
The first step to training up a child in the way he should go is to model that life yourself. You can not teach what you do not know. You can not live what you do not believe. You can not lead YOUR CHILD to Christ if You don't know the way yourself.
Think about your own relationship to Christ. How are YOU living FOR HIM? Do you seek HIM DAILY in prayer? Do you think of Him like a majic genie, who blesses you if you're good? Or do you see HIM as the RISEN LORD of your life? Do you READ His WORD on a DAILY basis, READING to CHANGE your life? Or do you hardly look at your Bible? Do you attend church regularly, serve Him, and seek HIM everyday? Or do you just think about Him once in a while, when you're not too busy and have a few minutes to spare? Do you LOVE HIM with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Or are you just using Him to get what you want out of life? Are you living life looking out for your own interests? Or are you putting Christ first? Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? Ask Him to help you be honest with yourself.
Tough questions, hard questions, but questions you must answer for yourself. Examine Your relationship with the Lord. Prayerfully ask HIM to point the way. For it is from where you stand with Christ that the process of training up YOUR CHILD begins. You don't have to be perfect, that's God's job (to be perfect, that is). Yours is just to love Him and be His willing servant. He LOVES YOU and YOUR CHILD more than you know. He will help you raise up your child! He will HELP YOU walk in His Ways. You can COUNT ON HIM!
"Be careful little feet where you go..." it's the ones who come behind who will follow you.
"The godly walk with integrity; blessed are the children who follow them." Proverbs 20:7
In His Love, Cathy
May I suggest a wonderful resource for leading children to Christ. It's "I Believe in Jesus" by John McArthur. It is a wonderful starting point for parents to talk with their children about Jesus Christ and their need for salvation.
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