Bring it Home (December)
I recently had a great conversation with a friend of mine who is also a pastor. He and his wife have three kids, and their oldest began to reject Jesus and Christianity. Now, their son is only about 8 or 9 years old, but it troubled them.
There were a number of reasons why their son was doing this. But, the biggest reason was that he put a lot of pressure on himself to be like others. His younger sisters took to the faith with little to no problems, and he felt that because he had questions, because he wasn't developing his faith the same way they were he must not really believe in Jesus.
Once his parents figured out what was going on, they were able to encourage him and help him to understand that different people grow in their faith differently. They also helped him to understand that having questions is not a bad thing, rather it is something that helps us to grow.
This is a great reminder to me, and I hope you, that all of us are different. God created us to be different. Because of that we will grow in our faith differently. Yet, it can be discouraging to students when see their siblings or friends seemingly have a stronger faith than they do.
Our job is to help our students understand that in the same way that each person grows or matures differently than others, their spiritual growth will also be different than others. We should then be encouraging our students that it is ok to have questions, it is ok that their faith journey looks different than their friends, because that is how God designed them.
We recently taught a lesson on having faith like a mustard seed. Mustard seeds are, according to Jesus, the smallest seed on earth. Yet, when planted they grow to become an impressive plant. The same can be said for us. Our faith may start small and humble, yet as we grow closer to Jesus, He can make us into something great that honors and glorifies Him.
There were a number of reasons why their son was doing this. But, the biggest reason was that he put a lot of pressure on himself to be like others. His younger sisters took to the faith with little to no problems, and he felt that because he had questions, because he wasn't developing his faith the same way they were he must not really believe in Jesus.
Once his parents figured out what was going on, they were able to encourage him and help him to understand that different people grow in their faith differently. They also helped him to understand that having questions is not a bad thing, rather it is something that helps us to grow.
This is a great reminder to me, and I hope you, that all of us are different. God created us to be different. Because of that we will grow in our faith differently. Yet, it can be discouraging to students when see their siblings or friends seemingly have a stronger faith than they do.
Our job is to help our students understand that in the same way that each person grows or matures differently than others, their spiritual growth will also be different than others. We should then be encouraging our students that it is ok to have questions, it is ok that their faith journey looks different than their friends, because that is how God designed them.
We recently taught a lesson on having faith like a mustard seed. Mustard seeds are, according to Jesus, the smallest seed on earth. Yet, when planted they grow to become an impressive plant. The same can be said for us. Our faith may start small and humble, yet as we grow closer to Jesus, He can make us into something great that honors and glorifies Him.
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