Influencing the Next Generation to Know God

So think about what's wrapped up in this. The central idea is that parents are supposed to pass on to their kids what it is they know about God and who he is and how he wants to relate to them. But if you think about that for a second, we can't actually pass on to other people something that we don't ourselves have, right? I mean, so that means that first off, the first thing that parents have to do is we have to know who God is for ourselves. We have to know what it is he says about life and what his commands are. We need to study and read his word and understand it. And this is important because we can't tell our kids or other people in our life about God if we don't actually know God ourselves. Like, we can't point someone towards something that we don't have. We can't pass along to somebody else something that we don't ourselves have. So as parents, right, our first job is to know God for ourselves. [00:39:49] (51 seconds)  #KnowGodFirst

But it doesn't stop there, right? Because once we get God into our hearts, we need to do the work of trying to get that into the life of our kids. And then this is where the text gets really helpful because it turns out that the way you do that is through simply doing life together, really looking for opportunities to make the most of the time that you have with them and take the natural things that you're already doing in the course of the life with your kids in your day and use them to start conversations about who God is and what he's done. [00:40:39] (29 seconds)  #LiveFaithTogether

But when you have those opportunities, like you realize, okay, there's something special about this. And most of the time for me as a parent, when that happens, it's when I'm driving a kid somewhere, like we're going to a doctor's appointment or to a sporting event, or there's something going on at the school. And I guess I've just realized that these one -on -one times, they're just golden opportunities for conversation, right? That's when you can ask your kids, well, hey, how's, how's it going? What's going on in your life? And I'm always amazed at how often in those conversations, there's something they say, there's some little comment that can be used to, to naturally talk about who God is in a way that's very normal. [00:42:20] (35 seconds)  #GoldenOpportunities

And the way the parent's supposed to respond is really interesting. You notice the parent doesn't say, well, because God said so. So he said, dad, why is it that we're supposed to follow these laws and decrees? And he's like, oh, son, you've got to remember, we used to be slaves in Egypt until God showed up. And God changed absolutely everything for us when he rescued us. And when he rescued us, he then gave us this beautiful design, these laws of how we can live in a way that honors him, where we really can live the best kind of life as we're with him, living according to his way. [00:45:47] (32 seconds)  #TeachThroughStories

And Martha said, you know, kids, other people might choose to use those words and say those sorts of things, but we don't want to do that. Because when we use those words, it's like we're using our words as a knife to try to hurt and to try to cut the other person. And that's not how God wants us to live. Because God loves everyone. God created everyone. God sees that everybody has incredible value, and he wants us to care for them and see people that same way with our actions and with our words. And those words, they don't show another person that they have value. Those words don't show another person that they care. [00:47:57] (38 seconds)  #PointBackToGod

At seven, they're asking, why can't I do that? At 17, they're asking, what do you do when a friend betrays you? At 17, they're asking, why can't I do that? Okay, I really do think we can... I really do think we can...do a better job of trying to help our kids grow up into the people that God created them to be, right? All people have incredible value in God's eyes. And all of us either have children in our families or we know children. So we have opportunities to talk with them about God so they can learn about him and follow him. [00:49:05] (80 seconds)  #RaiseWithPurpose

And here's maybe the very best part of all of this. It's never too late to start doing this. It's never too late to say, okay, like, oh, this is new information. I never really thought about it this way before. Or to say, yeah, I've been kind of falling down on the job. I haven't really been living in these relationships the way I should, but I'm willing to take steps to invite God's spirit to help me start moving in this direction. Because ultimately that's what the gospel is all about. It's about having a second chance, right? It's about starting over and allowing God to help us get it right for a change. [00:50:46] (34 seconds)  #InfluenceWithLove

And I just want to invite you to stop for a second and just imagine what would the world be like if we all did this? If every single one of us, as God empowered us, chose to see all of the people that we meet as people who are really loved and highly valued by God. And if we did everything that we could to try to help them know that that is true and to learn about God. [00:51:19] (22 seconds)  #NeverTooLate

I mean, the more that we can do that, the more our lives and the lives of those around us really can be these full free Christ center lives that God intended them to be. Because that's what this is really all about. We believe that life is better when Christ is at the very center of it. That is how we experience forgiveness from our past. That is how we experience peace in the present. And that's where we find a reason to have hope in the future. [00:51:41] (25 seconds)  #ImagineFaithImpact

And the way to get there is very simple when you look at the text. You have to know Christ yourself. And then you have to be present in the lives of the people around you. And just do everything that you can to point them towards Christ, trusting that he will take it from there. [00:52:20] (16 seconds)  #HopePeaceForgiveness