Creating A Spiritual Growth Plan for Your Child

Shepherding your child’s heart with a spiritual growth plan is a profoundly high calling. As parents, our primary responsibility to our children is teaching them about the astonishing love of Jesus Christ. But with so many young people turning away from the faith they were raised with, we need to carefully reevaluate the approach we take in helping our children grow spiritually. Here are some ideas to think about as you shepherd your young ones:

Spiritual Growth Plan

Make sure you’ve dealt with your own baggage.

Many of us have been hurt by religion or religious people. Sometimes, these wounds inflicted by the church go very deep and last for years. Be sure to acknowledge your own baggage and begin to actively pursue healing as you begin the process of leading your children spiritually. This may mean having some difficult conversations, forgiving difficult people, and/or seeking counseling.

Pray often.

Pray for your children and with your children as often as possible. Your prayers don’t need to be fancy or eloquent. Children need to learn from a young age that they can speak to Jesus like they would to a dear friend: about anything, and at any time.

Fill your home with the Word.

Raise your children in an environment that is saturated in the Word of God. Deuteronomy 11:18-21, “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.” Simple ways to do this include reading a Bible story before bed, or listening to the Bible while driving to school or running errands.

Teach your children to serve.

If the core of your religious teaching to your children is about the love of Jesus Christ, you are doing it right. Jesus loved people completely and served them selflessly. Teach your children to develop a servant’s heart as early as possible. Feed the homeless. Seek out the marginalized. Show kindness and attention to those society has rejected. Be willing to get messy and be inconvenienced in your day to day life to serve people life Jesus did. In these ways, your child will learn to behave like Christ.

 

If you’re thinking of sending your child to a Christian school, contact us today! We would love to speak with you.