To all parents and grandparents – “Have you passed your precious faith on to your kids and grandkids?” Many people I know respond, “Well I took them to church and to religious education, but they just stopped going to church when they got older. Anything with religious meaning has no value to them now.”
Have you ever put your own precious faith into words so as to have a real impact on their lives? Here’s what a friend of mine on occasion will share with his child or grandchild when they are alone in the car or somewhere together:
“Have I ever told you that Jesus is a really good friend of mine? When your grandmother was so sick I’d talk to him everyday. At first I’d plead with him so she’d get better. After awhile I said: ‘Jesus, it’s all in your hands.’ After grandma got out of the hospital I was hooked.
“I started talking to Jesus throughout the day, but usually not out loud. ‘Lord, what a beautiful day you’ve given me, thank you.’ ‘Those poor people in Somalia, they are starving. Please help them.’ And going to church only makes it easier to be friends with Jesus.”
We pass our faith on to our kids and grandkids by doing it in a very personal way, what our faith and our life with Jesus means to us down deep. Preaching to them rarely works, even good example doesn’t always work. But when we share what “makes us tick spiritually” it often works. Try it.
