If our spiritual compass is not pointing in the right direction it is both challenging and even hypocritical to point our children toward Christ. Why would they take seriously our calls to treasure Christ when we don’t?

Keeping our spiritual house in order must be a constant priority if we hope to direct our children to Christ in any meaningful way. This should be deeply motivating in light of effectively discipling the hearts of our children.

Take a moment to honestly evaluate where you are spiritually. These are things to continually evaluate as you endeavor to point your children toward Christ.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
John 10:27

We want our children to hear God’s voice, know Him, love Him, and ultimately become His lifelong, faithful followers.
 
The best way to facilitate this is to simply create an environment that is saturated with the gospel and God’s Word. This is not meant to be done in a legalistic or burdensome way, but in a natural, Deuteronomy 6:7 kind of way: “When you talk with them, when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up.”

Here are some simple ways to do this: If love and passion for Christ flows through the heart of your home it will naturally flow into the hearts of your children. They will tend to prioritize what you prioritize, seek what you seek, and love what you love - let that be the Kingdom of God.

The book of Romans tells us to glory in trials and suffering because it produces lasting spiritual fruit.

…but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Rom. 5:3-4

Webster’s defines tribulations as: Unhappiness, pain, or suffering; an experience that causes someone to suffer.

It is very tempting as moms to create environments where our children are always winners and never experience “tribulations”.  If they do face a disappointment or trial, we are often tempted to manipulate circumstances to cushion their fall or circumvent trials altogether.
 
When our children make mistakes (which they will!) it’s so easy as a parent to come behind and clean up after them, preventing them from owning and feeling the full force and consequences of their actions.
 
From personal experience, I can tell you that the greatest spiritual fruit and character growth I have seen in our children has been borne through trials, disappointments, and by bearing the consequences of poor choices. Some of our most intimate and spiritually deep conversations with our children have been on the heels of their own personal suffering.  Instead of being harmful, these experiences have been powerful means for pointing our children to Christ. 
 
One of our young adult children experienced a deep disappointment recently. As parents it was very painful to watch her endure such heartbreak. There was nothing we could do to change the circumstances or make it better. Instead we grieved with her, prayed for her and pointed her to God’s Word. This response was nothing new. It was the same way we had responded to our daughter’s life disappointments over the years and throughout her youth. When an adult version of a tribulation came, this was the natural overflow of our hearts. In the end, we witnessed our grieving daughter press into the Lord in a whole new, deeper way. 

Below are the words she penned to a friend who was spiritually stagnating. This was written on the heels of her heartbreak and a manifestation of some of the spiritual fruit borne through her trial.
 
Our daughter had been pointed to Christ during deep pain and in the end found far greater comfort and hope than we could have possibly given her.

In our next post two posts we will examine the third and final point in this series that characterizes “A woman who loves her children”.

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