From the time our children are born until the time they leave the house, there is always a constant flow of things that we are trying to teach them to do on their own. This ranges from the simplest of things like tying their shoelaces and mowing the grass, to harder things like putting others first and choosing to forgive.
But among the many things in life that we will teach our children in hopes that they will live successful and godly lives, there are perhaps no greater things that we could teach them that will guarantee them success in life than these three things.
We must teach our children to:
1. DEVELOP & USE THEIR GOD-GIVEN CONSCIENCE
Within the heart and mind of every person, God has placed the same conscience that intuitively knows right from wrong. As soon as Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, they immediately knew that they had done wrong. Why? Because of their God-given conscience. This is the same conscience that causes humans to live by a universal moral code that is seemingly engrained within the very fiber of our being. No matter who we are, wether saved or lost, there is an instinctive understanding that it is wrong to lie, to kill, to steal, etc. because our God-given conscience tells us it’s so.
Teaching our children to learn to listen to their conscience from a young age sets them up for successful living. A tender and pure conscience will take any person far in life. But the Bible warns us that a person’s conscience can also become “seared as with a hot iron” (I Timothy 4:2), meaning that a conscience repeatedly suppressed can eventually lead any person to a devastating end. Our children must understand that their conscience is their friend, and learn from a young age to follow the good advice of Gemini Cricket to “let your conscience be your guide.”
We must also teach our children to…
2. LEARN TO LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF GOD
While teaching our children to listen to their conscience is vital, it is only a steppingstone to an even greater voice they need to listen to in life – the very voice of God Himself. If I could teach my children just one thing that would bring them success in life, it would be this – “Learn to listen to the voice of God.”
We see this exemplified in the life of young Samuel, who heard the voice of God, listened to the voice of God, and ultimately obeyed the voice of God, becoming one of the great spiritual leaders of the Bible.
From the youngest of ages, we need to encourage our children to listen for the voice of God speaking to them and drawing them to Himself in salvation. Then we must encourage them to make it a daily and life-long practice to listen to God’s voice to make good and godly decisions.
When my children come to me asking for advice on decisions they need to make, many times, rather than giving them the answers they want, I encourage them to pray, listen, and wait for God to speak to them personally, giving them an answer. Because if our children learn to develop an ear for listening to God, we have just given them a life-long gift of wisdom far greater than they can get from us alone.
“More than our children need all the answers, they need to know how to listen to the One who holds all the answers.”
Lastly, we must teach our children to…
3. CHOOSE TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Our children’s greatest spiritual struggle will be the same as ours – fighting the flesh. And the only way that they can successfully do it is the only way that God promises that any of us can do it – through the power of His Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Teaching our children to follow the leading of the Spirit of God in their lives is even more important that teaching them to follow us and our rules. Because no matter how much we can instill character into their lives, only the Spirit of God can clothe them in the character of Christ, which is far better.
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
What character alone can never produce, the Spirit of God can.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
One of the best ways for kids to grow up understanding what it means to use their God-given conscience, listen to the voice of God, and be filled with the Spirit of God is to see these things being lived out in front of them by Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered parents.
These three things, if taught and exemplified, have the potential to propel your kids to success in life perhaps more than anything else you could ever teach them. And when the time comes to “push them out of nest”, they’ll have spiritual wings of their own strengthened for successful flight.
Nothing in life could bring more joy to my heart that to see my children grow up to be conscience-driven, Spirit-filled, young people who know how to listen to and obey the voice of God in their lives.
3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
