by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and www.patlambchristianauthor.com)
Train up a child…
Building a Spiritual Foundation in Children
Childhood is a foundation for life. That foundation needs to be established in four areas. These areas are social, mental, physical, and spiritual. How these four areas are developed in childhood influences the successful adjustment to adulthood.
The spiritual development of children is often neglected. Much emphasis is placed on a good education (mental), making friends (social), and health and wellness of children (physical), but when it comes to the spiritual side of a child, parents often feel inadequate to work in this area or for some other reason, simply don’t. Yet, it is this part of a human being that permeates all other parts and gives motivation and a set of values for functioning.
Every person is born with an instinct to worship something. As a small child begins to notice the many things created, questions begin to arise. “Where did I come from?” is a natural curiosity. “Who made the trees, flowers, and other things around me?” is also a natural question. If a child is not given guidance in what to believe, he/she may end up in a cult or simply drift through life with little or no purpose searching for meaning to life. That person will always be trying to fill a void that may never be satisfied in spite of many attempts. “If we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything,” is a saying I once heard. This seems to play out in many lives of individuals who have not had a spiritual foundation as children.
Some parents will say, “I will let my children decide for themselves about what they believe.” How can they decide if they have no knowledge? We don’t let children decide about whether to go to school. We don’t let them eat only candy all the time. We try to make sure they choose the right friends. They need help in deciding what to believe.
In my opinion, there are certain basic things that should be done to help develop a spiritual foundation in children. First of all, they should go to church and learn about the Bible. There are basic things about the Bible every child should learn. Children need to learn about the crucifixion and the meaning of the cross. In connection with this, children need to learn John 3:16. The Ten Commandments and The Lord’s Prayer should be memorized by every child. Children need to learn that God is love but that he is also a just God and that we don’t get by with wrong. Even though God will forgive us of wrongdoing if we are sorry and ask Him to do so, there are still natural consequences of sin. They need to understand that there is a heaven and a hell and that God sees them everywhere they are. There is no hiding from God. (This understanding is especially helpful when children get to the point of wanting to do something without parents knowing about it.) The more Scripture children can memorize, the better it is. These Scripture verses will come back to them as they make decisions. Purpose in life is obtained when children learn that God has a plan for each person.
When my oldest sister was in her last days, at one point I stood beside her bed in St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. She and I were holding hands, and she looked at me and said, “My biggest regret is that I didn’t get Gary and Steve (her sons) in Sunday school and church when they were little”. We need to constantly work on the spiritual development of children just as we work on the development in other areas. When they hear about Christ arising from the grave, they take hold of a deeper meaning to life than simply pleasing mom and dad, the teacher, and friends. No other religious leader has come back from death. Knowing this fact will help a person decide to live for Christ.