How to Encourage Your Child’s New Relationship with Christ

I am SO excited that your child made the decision to invite Jesus to be his or her friend!  I hope the following ideas and suggestions will be good resources for you as you encourage your child’s decision!  God has called you to help your child grow in his relationship with Jesus.  This process is called discipleship.  It involves training, teaching, and leading by example.  The object is for him to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus and to serve and honor Him throughout his life.  May you be encouraged, as well!

Please don’t feel pressured to start all of these ideas at once.  It might be good to start doing one thing and then add another suggestion in a few months.  Tweak and mold each idea to fit your family’s needs and your child’s personality.  Here are the ideas and suggestions:

• Get a Children’s Bible to read to or with your child.  You can get one at a Christian bookstore or online at LifeWayStores.com or even on amazon.  There are many different kinds.  Make sure you get one that is age appropriate and then continue to give your child age appropriate Bibles as he grows.
• Pray together everyday.  Set a specific prayer time each day – at the breakfast table, on the way to school, before bed, whenever fits your family’s schedule best.  Start a Family Prayer Journal where you write requests and then date them as God answers each prayer.  You can even give each person their own page in the Prayer Journal so you can all keep track of how God is working in each life.  Pray together throughout the day for situations that come up as teaching moments or to bring peace to a tough situation.
• Talk about what your child is learning about at Sunday School and Church (and at any other spiritual training program).  The more you get her talking about it, the more she will remember.  Help her apply what she has learned to her daily life (i.e. Job had patience – she needs to have more patience with her little brother).
• Do the Family Integration Page discussions and activities together sometime during the week for a focused spiritual training time for your family.  There are lots of other resources for “Family Time” or “Family Devotionals.”  Check out the “at home” section of this website for some ideas.
• Have your child sit with you in church every once in awhile to hear the sermon.  There are Kid Connect pages your child can do while the teacher is preaching that relate to the sermon.  If your child finishes the Kid Connect page, he can get a prize at the end of the service.  Also, make sure to talk to your child about the sermon after church and help him process how to apply what was taught into his daily life.
• Encourage your child to talk to God in prayer on her own about things that are bothering her and just to keep growing the friendship.

Thank you for all you are doing to encourage your child’s new relationship with Jesus!  May the time sown into him or her reap a beautiful harvest of good fruit and faithfulness!