How to make sure my child is raised to be a good Christian?

Anne - posted on 04/21/2012

I like Carla have adult children My husband and I have two daughters. I have and am sure Carla also clings to Train Up A Child. Even when our children do stray they KNOW what is Right and Wrong, Sin and not Sin. Keep your children in you PRAYS Every Day!



Even when our oldest daughter was not living for The Lord, she would ask for Prayer for concerns and the concerns of her friends. I was Blessed to be able to be the Day Care and so as close to Every Morning before I sent the girls off to school I would Pray for them out loud and by name. My Day Care Parents knew I did this and that I included their children in our morning Prayers. NOT ONCE in 8 years did I ever have a Parent Tell Me Not To Pray with or for their Children.



Now with both of our Daughters Committed Christian Young Women there are several times a week when our daughters will text me or call me to ask my to Pray for them for a certain concern. When I can If they have called I Pray over the phone with them. I hope some of this has helped.

Angela - posted on 04/18/2012

I found with my own children it helped a lot to be completely open and honest with them and to encourage them to look into things and research for themselves - always giving the Christian viewpoint when they raised their questions but not withholding information.

The very best way to make sure your child has a bright, enquiring mind is to encourage and foster a love for reading at an early age.

I had a fairly strict upbringing and was prevented from taking part in many activities that children enjoy (by this I mean perfectly wholesome activities - not just the wild and frantic social lives that adolescents crave!). However I was NEVER kept away from books. And I'll forever be grateful to my parents for that.

When pregnant with my oldest child, I met a lady who was out with her 6 year old son, He read aloud quite fluently from the local newspaper! I was impressed at his maturity and literary standard and in time I made sure my own child also had this skill!

I disagree with giving children too sheltered a life and I feel that I'm a well-rounded individual through loving books and knowing how to find out information. There was NO internet when I was a child and my own children were 9 - 18 years old when they learned computer skills themselves (they're all grown-up now).

Literacy and communication skills are vital and you can always give your child a head start over other kids by fostering their learning in this respect from as early an age as possible. Another thing my children learned was how to use a telephone at a very young age.

There are vast numbers of adults who don't even know how to write out a cheque!

Educate your child as much as possible within the framework of your Christian family life.

Martha - posted on 04/18/2012

Thank you ladies- your absolutely right by being a good christian myself hopefully my children will follow suit

Mary Anne - posted on 04/18/2012

I am one mom that believes that my children have to exposed to everything out there at the right age. I have always controlled the types of cartoons my girls watch and try my best to sit with them thru a movie explaining the good/bad and the right and wrong behavior.
We read the children bible daily and I have learned to associate daily lives to the stories we read from the bible and also to Jesus life. We cannot protect our children from all the bad stuff out there but as parents we can do better, we equip them with the skills that they need to face the temptations.
I am fortunate to learn this from a great woman:
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Rebekah - posted on 04/14/2012

Very much so and it's so hard to shelter kids today. My son is 3 and though I try to shelter, friends at the Christian daycare are exposed to things that I don't agree with and I have to explain to my 3 year old why we don't allow those things, etc. Not to mention churches today are walking some very fine lines as well - the church itself has become tainted. I understand now why that verse in the Bible said "Woah to woman in the last day with child".

Angela - posted on 04/14/2012

By example. It's all very well forbidding certain TV shows, magazines, books, websites etc ... But do you look at these yourself? Forbidden fruits are always more interesting and if Mother & Father are looking at stuff that they've forbidden to their own children, the kids will be really, really wanting to look themselves. They may be perfectly obedient and avoid looking at them in order to be compliant with you but they'll bide their time until they're the age when they'll be able to do as they wish without restrictions from parents. Is that what you want?

Make friends with Christian couples and their children. Give them freedom - yes, but freedom within the protective environment you have created.

Cyndel - posted on 04/12/2012

Be one. Read you bible in front of them. Obey it in front of them. Pray with them about everything. Pray when things get hard as a family, pray as a family when big family wide decisions need to be made (such as moving), pray before, during, and after disciplining any child. Pray for forgiveness when you react toward a child sinfully and then ask forgiveness. When you say no to something and you have a biblical reason to say no, explain that reason, there are some situations to say no with no explanations, but I believe it is important to explain why most of the time, esp if there is a biblical reason.

Non of this will guarantee but it gives a solid foundation. Whether or not someone becomes a christian or not is between them and Jesus.

Heather - posted on 04/12/2012

Talk with your child as much as you can about God and how much he loves them. Children tend to forget that from time to time. Show them God's blessings in the little things, like the beauty of the sun on a cool spring day. My five year old shows me the things that God does for her everyday. Show them by example is the biggest way to help your child stay with God. If they see you watching inappropriate things they will assume it is ok because mommy does it. Help your child to get involved in Christian extra circular activities at church and at school, this will place them around fellow believers so they can guide each other.

Carla - posted on 04/10/2012

Excellent, Linda. God also said 'teach your child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart'. Two out of three of my children are walking with the Lord, the other one has walked away. But the Scripture said 'when they are old'--she isn't 'old' yet. My faith says if I hold onto this promise, she will return to God.



So, do your diligence with your children, and pray, pray, pray for them--that's all we're required to do.



God bless, sweetheart

Linda - posted on 04/09/2012

First of all, there is nothing you can do to guarantee your child will be a Christian. He/she has to make her own decision. I know many good Christian parents whose children have turned their back on the Lord; the Holy Spirit needs to convict them of their sin and they need to turn to Christ. That being said, however, there is much you can do to influence your child in that direction,

1) PRAY for them.

2) Read the Bible with them, and have them read it on their own when they are old enough

3) TALK about God all day, every day. When you walk along the road, when you get up, when you lie down (Deuteronomy 6)

4) Censor and monitor their TV, the movies, the books they read, the internet. When they are young you can control what they watch. Don't accept the immoral conduct of the world. When you do watch something with ungodly values, talk about it with them. Compare it to the standards of the Bible. There is very little TV worth watching these days.

5) FRIENDS: I truly believe 90% of the battle is with the friends they keep. Encourage them to be friends with other strong Christians. If they have such friends, their friends will encourage them to do the right thing. I have been so blessed in this area....I have frequently heard my sons' friends say things such as "Your mother doesn't want you to play any more computer games. We need to obey her."

6) If you can, either homeschool them or send them to Christian school. Unless they are very strong Christians, it's going to be hard on them to spend 75% of their time in a secular environment.

7) Pray and trust in God. He loves your children more than you do.