The Spiritual Life of Your Child

It is always a joy to hear one of our mentor moms speak but this week, we got the added bonus of hearing her husband, too. He just happens to be our Senior Pastor at Southwest but for this particular morning, I tried to think of him less like Pastor Bob and more just like Bob, Ruthie's devoted husband and partner in raising their boys. :)

For those of you who have not yet had the privilege of meeting Ruthie or having her at your table, you are in for a treat. She has become a role model to me and I am privileged and delighted to know her. She is not only a righteous woman of God, she is as warm and genuine as they come. What a blessing it was to hear such words of wisdom and encouragement this morning. Weren't they just the cutest?!

There were so many little gems to take-away.

With their anchor verse being Deuteronomy 6:4-9, they spoke of how we need to be both model and mentor to our children.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

As a model...

* We need to ask ourselves, "Do we really love the LORD ourselves, with our whole being?"

* We must take the time to nourish ourselves by being in His word daily.

* This is our life line and communication line to God. By being in His word, we can learn to love and trust in Him.

* God's word needs to be on our hearts, not just in our head.

* Do I endeavor to obey God and believe Him? Keeping in mind that God does not expect perfection.

* As moms, we need to admit it when we blow it. This includes apologizing to our kids when we do wrong.

* Allow them to hear us confess our sin and pray for forgiveness.

As a mentor...

* I love the idea and practice of the Family Altar. I suppose this is something that I planned to do in the future but hearing Bob and Ruthie gave me the desire and motivation to start right away. This is a sacred family time for prayer, teaching and devotion. It's also an opportunity to ask our kids engaging questions. Be sure and keep this time brief, simple and age appropriate!

* What Bob said was really powerful. We really only have our kids for about 12 years. "Just think how much we can accomplish with just a few minutes a day over 12 years?" The obvious alternative would then lead us to ask, "How much time and opportunity would be lost had we not taken those few minutes a day?

* We cannot solely rest on the church or even schools to teach our children to be spiritually strong. This must all begin in our own homes.

As Christians, we are not called to be part-timers. God is not interested in that. We are called to live a life that fully encompasses God in all that we do, say, think and feel. Putting religion in a section of our week like Sundays or maybe even Wednesday mornings is not how God wants us to live. In doing this, we are just perpetuating the secular advancement of the notion that God should stay in a separate, religious category. I also enjoyed the kind encouragement that Bob & Ruthie gave to those moms whose husbands are not yet believers. Prayer is a powerful thing and I have seen lives transformed over years because of the power of a praying wife. Keep praying and let us pray with you and for you!

Lastly, allow our children to hear us pray for their spiritual character- out loud. That way, they too, will know exactly what we desire and hope for them.

In summary, I think it all boils down to being very intentional in pointing our children towards the Lord. It must first begin with us, moms!

All fantastic stuff from Ruthie and Bob! Thank you for leading our church with such a GREAT moral compass!

Blessings,

Catherine

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