PASSAGE
Step 1: Live in the Truth
Our children are naturally being discipled. If it is not from us around the teaching of scripture, it is by the culture, worldly influences, their peers, or the media. Now, more than ever, it is important for parents to be the most compelling voice that their child is listening to. This requires intentionality in both what we speak over our children, but also how we live in front of our children.
Step 2: Have Formative Conversations
We have compiled some suggested conversations and connections that parents should have with their child. Parents should intentionally plan some specific dates to be alone with your child to use the connection and conversation guides. These times should be designed around making your child feel special and comfortable talking to you about everything while instilling important truths in their heart.
Step 3: Affirm & Challenge Your Child
Parents who have completed the the formative conversations should plan to commemorate this rite of passage. This should include writing a letter affirming the gifts and godly character traits they see in their child and challenging them with some specific goals for their future as a man or woman of God.
The passage from child to teenager is an important one for parents to navigate well. We want our sons and daughters to be confident in their identity in Christ -- knowing that amidst so many changes both God's love and our love for them is unshakable.
Parents, as people with wisdom from life experience, we should:
-
Be living in a way that builds trust in what we say and teach for our child
-
Instill confidence with intentional conversations about what it means to be a man or woman of God
-
Build open lines of communication with our children
-
Remind them often of our affection for them through quality time
-
Help them build community with other teens & adults who are following the Lord