What do you think THIS verse means?

I bet you've heard this verse before:

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”?(Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

We usually assume this means that if we teach them to read the Bible and pray, we will plop them on a?faith path?that guides them through life.

However, we know this isn’t true. You can turn to almost any older adult in the church and hear a story of a child walking away from faith. This is not because they didn’t try to pass on their faith.

But if an adult or a child is created in one way, and we try to force them into the shape WE want, most adults will walk away. They might go out into the world to find that which they could have found in God,?if we had only just shown them how.

A child’s faith needs to be?nurtured, not?assembled.

You can make a car on an assembly line. You can even make a really detailed computer chip on an assembly line! But you can't put a child through an assembly line.

While there ARE things we can do to help our kids grow in faith (like read the Bible and pray and go to church!) there’s no sure way to make your child a Christian.

However, you?can?start your child off on the way?they?should go, which might not look exactly like the way you went.

• For example, your child might really need to learn?apologetics?in order to survive in a hostile culture. Or learning apologetics might have a negligible effect on?your?child’s faith!
• Maybe instead of apologetics your child needs?beauty?and?music?to deepen their faith.
• Or maybe your church denomination centres on?exuberant?acts of worship, but your child is a?contemplative?person who connects with God better while sitting and staring at a candle,
• or an activist who feels the presence of God most strongly while?standing up?against the school bully.

Did you know those are ALL fabulous ways to grow in faith? The key is, they're not fabulous for EVERYONE. But they might be the perfect thing for your child.

If you want to dive deeper into the 9 ways to guide your child into a relationship with Jesus, check out my book, on sale for the month of June:

>>?Sacred Pathways for Kids: 9 Ways To Guide Your Child Into Relationship With Jesus.?<<

love,

Christie