by Pastor Patrick Cho

One of the great privileges of being a parent is the responsibility and joy of helping our children see what a wonderful and amazing God we worship and live for. We get to pass on the greatness of God to the next generation. They get to see through our lives and example, joys and disappointments, blessings and trials, how faith plays a role in every decision and situation. Through family worship, they can witness our devotion to God and participate in ascribing to Him the glory due His name. By recounting for them the amazing grace of God in the gospel, they can come to know the love of God, which was demonstrated in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

This example of faith and demonstration of the greatness of God is founded upon a healthy and vibrant spiritual walk with Christ. It is assumed and obvious that if you want your children to learn to love Jesus through your example, that He must be everything to you and the chief desire of your heart. This is why it is so vital that parents not allow excuses and distractions to justify time apart from the Word and prayer. Even with the busyness of life, it is even more imperative that parents cultivate a deep devotion to the Lord and maintain a healthy relationship with Christ. Of course, no parent is going to do this perfectly, but it involves confessing personal sin, asking forgiveness of God, preaching the gospel to ourselves, seeking the Lord in His Word, and demonstrating faith and dependence on God through prayer. There is little hope that our children will see the greatness of God in our lives if we do not treat Him as great through our worship and obedience. In other words, it is going to take more than verbal lessons; they need to see it in our lives. Consider the commitment of Ezra, who devoted himself to study the Law of God, to live it out, and then to teach it (Ezra 7:10). This is a pattern for teaching to which all parents should commit themselves.

As our children grow, it will not be enough to be carried by the faith of their parents. It must be a faith of their own, but it can be built upon a faith that has been demonstrated. I will never forget a conversation I had with a friend who I admired tremendously because of his seemingly tireless work for the Lord. When I asked him how he could have such faith, his response stuck with me. He said, “When you see your mom each morning at the breakfast table weeping over the pages of Scripture, it is easy to grow up loving the Lord and living for Him.”

This is not just a commitment that parents need to make for their own children, but the opening verses of Titus 2 remind us that the older men and women of the church are to model exemplary faith for the younger generation. Older folks are to be examples of faith for the younger people in the church to follow. The consequences in failing to do this are grave. It is no wonder we see in today’s youth a greater immaturity, irresponsibility, laziness, lack of dignity, and foolishness than we have in previous generations. With many of today’s youth lacking strong spiritual authority and leadership in the home, more responsibility falls on the older men and women of the church to help disciple younger men and women in the faith. This is to help them discern right from wrong, better from worse. But more importantly and ultimately, it is to help them to see past the expectations, rules, and requirements to the great and gracious God who wants His best for them. The goal of passing these things on is not only to develop a more moral and responsible generation, but a more worshipful and devoted generation.