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October 7, 2004
A Family of Faith
How should parents teach their children faith? I think this is a critical question for parents in our time, when sociological forces push all of us to disbelieve miracles and take a cynical view of anything or anyone that relies on God.
Teaching your child to have faith can’t come from a textbook or a simple lesson. It’s a more organic process that a child learns through the examples you set on a day-to-day basis. So in order to teach faith, you must have faith and show it. How is this done? Pretty simply, actually. If you have a problem, take it to God in front of your family and trust in Him to solve it to His satisfaction. Then, once the problem is solved, thank God for His answer in front of your family.
This is all that is necessary to instill a strong trust in God in your children and a faith that won’t waver. Of course, as I mentioned above, this is not a one-time act or a “teaching moment”, but a continuous trust in God that is evidenced every time an obstacle comes in your path. Each of us has problems on a weekly basis that we can take to God in family prayer and teach our children (and often ourselves) how to trust God completely. It is through the examples we set that our children learn to trust in God and His Mercy.
Another recommendation: teach your children about others who completely trust in God. For example, St. Therese is an excellent example of someone who overcame herself by completely surrendering her will to Gods. A new movie has recently been released which depicts this well and there are numerous books (including children’s books) on her life.
But remember: Ultimately only you can teach your child to have faith. So have faith and show it.
Posted by HolyFamily at October 7, 2004 5:53 PM
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