Psalm 145
As a parent we have a pretty big responsibility, to laud the works of God to the next generation. In other words we are to tell our children of the God we worship. We need to impart what we believe in hopes that they will also believe. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I have known parents insanely proud when their child decides to not only believe but to go into ministry. I have known parents who have taken it personally when their child has turned away from the faith that they cling so desperately to. To both groups I would say, be proud, or sad, but remember it is each individuals choice to believe or not. Of course, it is easier to say to someone that they aren't the reason than it is for them to actually believe it.
My wife and I once had a conversation about our son and faith and we said that we hope that we don't teach him anything that he has to unlearn later in life. That is a tall order in any genre of knowledge, but is especially difficult when it comes to faith. I say this because almost everyone who has ever believed has changed at least some of those beliefs through the years. I know that towards the end of college I began to question almost everything in regards to my faith and my practice of that faith. Some beliefs I jettisoned easily, some felt like I was ripping off a big scab, some survived the testing and are the deeper for it. I had to unlearn and learn things like what 'the world', 'your neighbor' and 'your enemy' meant. I had to rethink some of the stories I learned in Sunday School, and to some extent that is just a part of being mature enough to handle certain aspects of the story.
And so, we try to teach the next generation the best we can, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. But as long as we aren't the ones causing the little ones to stumble we have done what we are supposed to do.
+ How are you passing on your beliefs to the next generation?
No comments:
Post a Comment