This season always inspires me to reflect on my faith and the gratitude I feel for the blessings in my family's life. I also feel the joyous obligation I have to encourage my children's spiritual growth.
In 2 Peter 1:5-7, Peter describes in simple terms the stages of spiritual growth, beginning with faith. Peter's description is a wonderful model for our children's spiritual development.
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For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7
Faith
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
The seeds of faith are sown in infancy as our baby learns to trust that his needs will be met. Faith continues to grow with responsive parenting and the parent-child bond that remains constant through childhood.
Virtue
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6
Some babies seem to be born good. My friend took her one-month old baby to the doctor because she worried that her daughter never cried. The doctor laughed; and as her daughter grew, we recognized that her goodness is an innate quality that has never changed. For most of us though, virtue is a trait that we must learn.
Knowledge
Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel. Proverbs 20:15
Knowledge of the family's faith begins very early. When my children were babies, their teachers at church were talking to them about God's love and His gift of their lives. The language of faith became a part of them.
Self-Control
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
I've always preached that self-control is the goal of discipline with children. We want our kids to demonstrate discipline even when we are not around to correct them. Basic to this approach is to explain why whenever we correct our child. Authoritative, rather than authoritarian or permissive, parenting practices build the child's inner foundation of moral knowledge.
Perseverance
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4
As children leave the toddler years and move out into the world a bit, they begin to experience more frustration of their wants and desires. They must learn to be patient and to wait their turn. With small steps, we grow to a maturity that allows us to delay gratification, to work before play, and to realize that God is with us, even when we don't feel His presence.
Godliness
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8
We strive to emulate the character of God in our devotion to Him. Though this striving goes unperfected through our entire life, we can practice and teach to our children the virtues of unwavering commitment, kindness, justice, and forgiveness.
Kindness
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
When we see our child being kind, we feel a sense of joy and hope for them. We want our children to have good relationships with people throughout their lives because we know how important it is to their well-being and happiness. Affection, hospitality, altruism - these are all expressions of God's love through us to others.
Love
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13
Our ultimate gift and the goal of our spiritual development is love. The most important thing we teach our child is to love. Every step of childhood either moves or hinders a child to a life of love for God and others. It's an awesome responsibility for us as parents, but the joys of our task far outweigh any difficulties along the way.
