Jacob Orr

“I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5

I’ve interacted with a lot of families recently who are in the dark as to what is really important for their family. They have no concrete goals for their children and therefore have very little motivation to lead them in the way of Christ, because they do not know whether what effort they put forth even makes a difference. 

They hope their child does well in school. They hope they grow to be healthy kids. These are good aims but they are generalized and not specific to their own child. Everyone wants these things. But what are your specific goals for your kids?

Many Christian parents want to pass their faith on to their children but they feel ill equipped to do just that. We see in Timothy’s story that his sincere faith was brought on by the sincere faith of his mother and grandmother. But how did they pass this faith on to their child? Other than take him to the synagogue and let him sit under the teaching of the religious leaders of his community, what did they do to share their faith? 

While we don’t know for sure what the daily and weekly rhythms looked like for this biblical family. We do know that their faith was sincere and they passed the Scriptures onto the next generation. 

What does it look like for you to lead your child to Jesus? Would you even know where to start? If you were challenged to spend time together as a family in God’s Word, would you feel overwhelmed at the thought? Unsure of where to begin? Here are 3 words of encouragement to you in this worthy endeavor. 

1. Start!

You do not need to have a seminary degree to lead your child to Jesus. All you need is what Lois and Eunice had, a sincere faith. Because this is all you need to begin the work of leading your child to Christ, you can start today. Pray and ask God to help you with this task. Ask Him how you should proceed. Search the Scriptures. Whatever you are learning from Him you can share with your children. Pray with them. Sing songs of praise together. This does not have to be done perfectly for it to be God honoring. It simply needs to be done. So start. 

2. Do it with others.

Another great place to find encouragement is to do it with others. Seek the advice of pastors and other parents who have led their children in family worship before. We ask our friends about recipes or the best places to find good deals. Why can’t we ask them about spiritual matters as well? Invite your trusted Christian friends and family to be a part of your child’s tribe. They need good and godly influences in their life just like we do. So don’t feel like you are alone in this. If you have a church or small group lean on them for help and encouragement. 

3. Don’t give up!

Finally, I will say this: Don’t give up. Just because something is not working doesn’t mean we stop trying to reach our goal of sharing Jesus with our kids. Maybe morning devotions don’t work for you family. Try sharing a verse at the dinner table instead. Maybe you need to turn the radio in the car to a Christian station for some uplifting praise music. Be sure to talk about the words you sing when the song ends so they can start to grasp the meaning of the words.

We have gone through many different seasons in my home. What you do with preschoolers will not work for middle schoolers. Don’t give up if something does stick or seem to fit quite right with your family. Keep trying. Your children’s eternity is at stake here. The cumulative effect of your consistency and perseverance will impact them in ways you may never know. So don’t quit just because it gets hard.

If you are reading this and you have some influence on the next generation – whether as a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or mentor – let me remind you of this. Sharing Jesus with our children is worth it. It matters. It matters more than anything else. And God has entrusted you to be that positive influence. Don’t squander it. Because you can do this. You really can do this. So let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus to our children.