A mother complained to me recently that there is an “Egungun festival” in the area they reside, and that her 5 year old boy even if glued to the floor would find a way to unglue himself and follow the masquerade. Now that is serious considering the fact that as Christians this is not something the parents discuss or celebrate in the house. So their question was where did their son learn about this and build up interest in it.
This brings forth some questions for mothers and parents; do you purposefully and consciously teach your children faith in God? Or are you of the notion that they are too young to understand life? Or maybe you are too busy to teach them?
[Tweet “The training of a child’s faith is the most delicate and the most important duty”]
According to an Author H. Clay Trumbull “The training of a child’s faith is the most delicate and the most important duty that lies with those who want to properly train a child. It is critical to work on this part of the child’s development. And it really is a factor upon which the child’s life will flow. This also affects other phases of the training of a child.
To train a child to have faith, the adult needs wisdom and a good amount of their own faith to be able to impart same. Everyone is wired to have faith in something – the question is what. Children inherently know about God and they are either trained to continue to grow in faith or not.
[Tweet “Everyone is wired to have faith in something the question is what”]
So then what is Faith?
Faith is trust, assurance and confidence in God. It is shown by service and obedience to God. Biblically, in Hebrews 11:1, it says; “now faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. This means that faith is just a knowing, it is the foundation from where all else flows. When a child has faith in God and believes in himself or herself – they are ready to be all they are meant to be.
Think this will be complex for the child to learn? A child is never too young to hear about creation, about God’s love, about Jesus, and about the many wonderful Bible stories. Explain to them as simply as possible. Don’t speak too much grammar; to avoid the long sequence of the “Why” and “Who” questions because they don’t understand you.
You have to let them know that in life, there is only one boat to be in, and that is God’s boat. There is need for our Children to start learning what faith is and from a young age.
Like the popular saying, a house without a solid foundation is unstable and, eventually, it will crack and crumble. So start early and be intentional in moulding what they believe in. If you don’t, someone else will. Let your voice be the loudest.
