Walking in the TruthPC: Taylor Welch

Parenting is tough; it is not for the faint of heart. It takes everything you have, while giving you so much in return. As parents there are a million things to worry about: behaviors, grades, are they being emotionally supported by you? Are they being fed the right foods? What about education and friendships? The right amount of socialization but learning to be independent and a million other things that you never had to worry about before this little person entered into your world. There are so many things to ponder and pray over, but as a Christian parent it goes much deeper than that. Although I do worry over my son’s earthly life, his present and his future, I am desperately concerned over his eternal well-being, his soul. There is an extreme sense of tension knowing that I am the one shaping his little life, that I am the one called to teach him about Jesus and eternity and everything that goes with it. It is a daunting task, one that I don’t want to mess up.

This calling to eternity and salvation is the most important decision a person can ever make. Please hear me parents: Jesus will be the most important decision that you and your children will ever make. If we are believers in Christ and our children do not come to know the Lord, we have failed as parents.

This may be a hard truth for some, I probably didn’t share the most popular opinion and even if I am disliked for it, I am called to share the truth. Our children’s eternal destiny is the single most important decision they will ever make, in fact it is yours as well.

“You might be tempted to shrink back from the challenge or let someone you think is smarter or stronger than you take over. But I want to encourage you-for the sake of your children-to engage in the battle. It is no accident that you are here right now. This is a special generation of mothers who have been called to shepherd a special generation of children.”**

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Jesus has already set an eternal longing in each of our hearts, but it is up to us what we do with it and how we shepherd our children into eternity.

This deep calling in me to see that my son knows the Lord and has a love for His Word compels me to the fight. We are in a battle for the souls of our children in a depraved world that is out to devour them.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The devil would love nothing more than to see a generation of families fall at his feet in distraction and apathy and compliance. There is no greater tool that the devil has than a parent who is not willing to fight to the very death for their child’s soul. Because in the end, evil isn’t concerned about the flesh, but the spirit; if you claim the spirit, you claim the whole being.

Now you may ask, how do I shepherd my children to know the Lord and walk in His Word? I am here to help you with that! Please know that I am an imperfect parent, that I fail every day, but my greatest mission in life is to know Jesus more and to make Him known, especially to my child.

  1. Know Jesus: Seriously; you may laugh and think “well duh!” But throughout my years as a Sunday school teacher and Bible study leader, the amount of parents that have asked me to be the one to show their child Jesus has astonished me. It is not anyone else’s job except for yours. Your child’s soul and eternal destination and how they live their life on the earth will fall squarely on you and me as parents. Don’t push this off to someone else.
  2. Know your Bible: This is so important to know the Word of God. Study it, show your kids how much you love God’s Word. Recite it to them and over them. Pray it and live in the very Word that is alive and active. (Hebrews 4:12)
  3. Live it out: If we are going to teach our children about Jesus and His Word we have to live in the Spirit.

No one will call you out faster than a kid who knows you don’t believe what you are saying. Don’t put your kids through the religious cycle without your own desire to do so. It isn’t about how religious we can say we are; it is about what Jesus did in our lives to change us. Live out the sacrifice that the Lord made on our behalf and show them what living grace looks like.

Now this journey of seeing our children come to faith is not an easy one. We are pitted against an entire world that wants to tell our kids otherwise. We have a lot going against us and it isn’t going to be a smooth ride, but it will be worth it. Every second of it. You aren’t in the battle alone. Remember, your greatest achievement in life will not be what you did or how you succeeded as a parent or how your children succeeded in the world, your greatest achievement will be knowing you did everything you could with the help of the Lord to love Him and bring your kids to faith in Him as well. Nothing in your life will matter if you reach eternity and you see Jesus, but your children are not with you.

If you don’t know Jesus and you just read a rant of a mother, I would challenge, even dare you to dig deeper. Grab the dusty Bible, download a Bible app and start looking. There is no better or more important decision you will ever make for yourself or your family than to know Christ and make Him known. Jesus is alive just like He said He would be and He is coming back. The time is now. May generations be blessed through the faith of parents that decided to risk it all to see their children walk in the Truth.

PC: Taylor Welch

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the Truth.” 3rd John 4
**Heidi St. John (Becoming Mom Strong) NIV Ecclesiastes 3:11, 1st Peter 5:8, Hebrews 4:12, 3rd John 4.