By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
A husband and wife were at a party chatting with some friends when the subject of marriage counseling came up
“Oh, we’ll never need that. My wife and I have a great relationship,” the husband explained.
“She was a communications major in college, and I majored in theatre arts.” After a brief pause, he said, “She communicates well, and I act like I’m listening.”
That’s a common scenario not only between spouses but also with parents and children. You offer your kids great advice.
You warn them about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, hanging out with the wrong friends, and more, and it goes in one ear and out the other.
Of course, there’s nothing more important than talking to your kids about Jesus because it impacts this life and the next. A relationship with Jesus makes their lives better and makes them better at life. It also determines where they will spend eternity.
Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night (Deuteronomy 6:5-7, MSG).
When they’re young, they are attentive and eager to learn. You get no push back when you want to read them a story from the Bible or pray at bedtime.
As they get older, the responsibility to influence them and lead them to their own faith in Jesus shifts. You talked to them about Jesus when they were young, but the day comes when it’s out of a parent’s hands. Children grow up and are on their own.
They make their own decisions and don’t want advice from you. They form their own values, convictions, and world view. And all you as a parent can do is sit back, hold your breath, and hope for the best. As Luke Bryan sings,
You lose your grip the more they grow
They won’t listen ‘cause they think they know
And you watch ‘em goin’ down a dead-end road, and you can’t stop ‘em
What can you do then to help them stay or get back on track with Jesus? Luke Bryan again:
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
Now I talk to Jesus ‘bout my kids
When your kids walk away from Jesus and discard everything you’ve taught them about him, when they don’t want your guidance about much of anything anymore, especially spiritual things, your only recourse is to talk to Jesus about them. Pray.
In prayer, you ask your children’s heavenly Father — who loves them far more than you do, and who planned a satisfying and meaningful life for them before they were even born — to move in the lives of your wayward children.
His promise is steadfast, and he is, always had been, and always will be faithful to keep all his promises. Here are two you can count on and base your prayers for your kids on.
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you [and your children] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
What God began in your children, he will complete. He won’t allow the spiritual seed you’ve planted in their hearts to lie dormant. It may not happen in your lifetime. It might occur in the final days of their lives. But God will finish what he started.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1).
Though it may not look like it as you view their lifestyle, your children’s hearts are in God’s hand, and he has a way of softening and changing hearts even against what seems as impossible odds.
Let me leave you with this assignment from Mark Batterson:
“No matter how many things you get wrong as a parent, there is one thing you must get right, and that one thing makes all the difference in the world. Make sure your heavenly Father hears about your kids every day!”
Talk to Jesus about your kids.
———————–
Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.