Raising kids is ___________.

How would you answer?

Hard? Joyful? Complicated? Tiring? Fun? Scary? Rewarding? Maybe a little bit of everything?

Whatever your answer, if you are a follower of Christ, your role as a parent is to help pastor your children so that they will know and, God-willing, love and put their faith in Jesus.

But that can be an overwhelming task in itself, can’t it?

As Mary C. Wiley, writing at the ERLC blog, writes, “…kids are constantly learning. They are absorbing what they are told, making assumptions based on what is presented as true, looking at what their friends find on the internet, ultimately building a framework for how to understand life.”

So how do you help them build a solid understanding of God and his work in the world? How do you raise kids who love Jesus?

While it’s not an answer to everything, Mary gives four truths to preach to yourself:

1. You cannot teach what you are not doing yourself.
2. You won’t have all the answers.
3. Avoid seeking to simply modify your child’s behavior.
4. Create rhythms that get kids excited about learning.

To read her brief explanations of each point and find a list of solid resources to help you point your kids to Jesus, visit the full article here. May it encourage you to do the joyful, exhausting, glorious, fun, complicated work of helping your own kids move forward toward Christ, and as she says:

“Discipleship begins at home, with you, and there’s nothing more exciting than watching your kids grow to love God’s Word and hide it deeply in their hearts. Let’s pray and intentionally parent in such a way that we might see God do such a work in our families.”

If you are looking for more resources or want to talk with someone about what are specific ways you can disciple your kids at home, contact Pastor Derick (Associate Pastor and dad of 4 littles) or Pastor Cami (Children's pastor and mom of 2 teenagers).

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Derick Zeulner is an associate pastor at South Shores Church. He has a M.A. in Theology from Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, CA and he loves the wacky adventures of doing life with his wife, Rebecca, and 4 kids.