I remember a song that we sang at church when I was growing up. The song said...
"Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day, pray every day, read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow."
Our calling is to disciple children and help them grow in their faith.
But how does that happen? What steps should we take that will help children grow spiritually?
Let's look at 10 key steps you can take to help children grow spiritually.
Help them schedule a daily time to read God's Word.
The Bible tells us this in 1 Peter 2:2.
"Desire God's pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation."
When children are younger, you should read the Bible with them. As they grow older, they should begin to read the Bible by themselves as well.
What Bible should you use? I personally like Group Publishing's "Hands On" Bible. It is written in the NLT version and has lots of hands-on activities and discussions that will help kids get engaged with God's Word.
Application not just information.
It is crucial that you not only help children begin to read the Bible, but to apply it to their life as well. James 1 says this:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Information alone will not help a child grow in their faith. It also takes applying what you learn. Ask children questions about what they have read.
What is God telling you in these verses?
How can you apply those verses to your life?
Information alone leads to a stagnant faith.
Application alone will lack spiritual depth.
It takes information and application to see children grow in their faith.
Time for prayer.
Prayer is essential for spiritual growth. Help children develop the discipline of prayer. As they spend time with Jesus, their faith will grow deeper. As children get older, encourage them to have a prayer journal where they write down what God is speaking to them about through His Word. Have them also record their prayer requests and spend time praising and worshiping Jesus through prayer.
Children's faith will grow stronger as they release the power of prayer in their lives. Help them see that prayer is talking to Jesus and listening to Jesus.
Faithful church attendance.
We are not meant to do the Christian life alone. God gave us the church so we could grow together, encourage one another and challenge one another.
We are living in a day where many families are not making church attendance a priority. They show up once every 4-to-5 weeks. We must help parents see how important it is to have their children in church faithfully.
Children will have a hard time growing in their faith if they are not actively involved in a church. We must make it a high priority to encourage and exhort families to be consistent in their attendance.
Think about it with me. What if parents decided to only send their kids to school one day a month. What kind of scholastic growth would come out of that? Not much.
The same applies to church attendance. Parents who are only bringing their children to church once a month or less will have children that are stagnated in their spiritual growth.
Volunteer involvement.
God uses people to help disciple children and see them grow in their faith. I have found that God will often send a person to help parents disciple their children. It might be a children's ministry teacher. It might be a youth volunteer. It might be a godly man or woman in the church.
Just as Paul helped Timothy grow in his faith, so God will bring people into a child's life to help them grow spiritually.
Parental investment.
Parents are supposed to be the number one discipler of children. Our role is to come alongside parents and provide them with resources to disciple their children. Our role is to encourage parents as they lead their children spiritually.
Invest spiritually in parents who will in return invest spiritually in their children.
Being part of sacrificial giving.
Teaching children what it means to sacrifice financially for the work of God will help them grow spiritually. Teach kids about tithing. Teach kids about offerings. Teach children about sacrifical investments in the kingdom of God.
Giving helps children grow in their faith as they see the big picture of God's kingdom here on earth and how they can make a difference.
A generous heart of giving helps children grow in their faith.
If you are looking for a teaching series about giving - check these two out - they dig into the heart of giving and help children grow spiritually because of it. Click on the links for more information.
Reading books about spiritual leaders.
There are many great autobiographies and biographies about Christian leaders that are written on a child's level. Reading these books will inspire children to grow in their faith and do great things for God.
You can read many of these books online for children and parents who prefer to read ebooks.
Milestones.
Milestones are home run moments that can propel children (and parents) forward in their spiritual growth. If you are not doing milestones, you are missing out on a big-time opportunity to impact children's (and parents) spiritual lives.
Here are the milestones you can use for this. You can get more information by clicking on the links below.
Teaching children to share their faith. There is something about sharing your faith that helps you grow spiritually. I have found this to be true in my own life.
Place tools and resources in children's hands that they can use to share their faith. The teaching series The Blab Lab has been used to see thousands of children share their faith and grow spiritually.
You can get more information about The Blab Lab at this link.
Implement these 10 steps into your ministry and you will see children growing in their faith.
p.s. If you haven't read my new book "Fertile Soil...see kids' faith grow and flourish for a lifetime." you can get it at this link. This book shares the keys to seeing kids grow spiritually and not walk away from the church.
