Train Your Child
Recently, Alisa and I have been training our children in the area of their identity. We have been teaching them about who they are in Christ, who they became when they accepted Jesus as their Savior. The two we have covered so far have been: “I am God’s child,” and “I am Jesus’ friend.” We not only tell them who they are, we also cover the verses in scripture that back it up.
We are doing this because we believe it is important to teach them about who God has made them into. This isn’t something they can achieve or earn; it is something that occurred when they became Christians.
This may sound like a religious rhetoric, but I assure you, our children’s identity is one of the most important issues that are facing them today. Their identity is how they define themselves and it will dictate what they do. Our identity is the “why” we do what we do.
If we don’t teach our children who they are in Christ all they will have to identity themselves with is their flesh: how thy look, feel, think and what they do.
The other day we were bowling when John Mark, my ten year old, started performing poorly. He became frustrated and started becoming critical of himself. I asked him, “Who are you?” He said, “Someone who stinks at bowling!” When I repeated my question he responded in an ugly tone, “I am a child of God! But Dad, that doesn’t have anything to do with bowling!” I told him, “You are right, and your bowling performance has nothing to do with who you are.”
Truth be known, we typically train our children to identify themselves by their flesh. We love them when they behave and proud of them when they succeed, teaching them that their identity is found in what they do.
Sometimes we make too big a deal over whether or not they have a boyfriend or girlfriend or if they are popular or not, teaching them to define themselves by how they are accepted by others. Other times we place too much importance on their academics and teach them that they are only people of worth if they achieve.
There is nothing wrong with wanting your child to succeed academically, behave appropriately or to have successful relationships, but when we spend more time praising these efforts instead of focusing on their true identity in Christ we leave them with a skewed view of themselves and set them up for certain failure.
If our children’s identity is tied up in being accepted by others then they are at risk of following the crown in order to fit in. If it is focused on their beauty they are at risk of abusing diet pills or developing eating disorders in order to “stay beautiful.”
Ask your children, “Who are you?” If they identify themselves according to their “flesh,” begin teaching them who they really are. By teaching our children who they really are in Christ we offer them an identity that will remain solid even when circumstances around them change.
Johnny Walker is a Christian Counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling. You can reach him at (770) 456-5547
We are doing this because we believe it is important to teach them about who God has made them into. This isn’t something they can achieve or earn; it is something that occurred when they became Christians.
This may sound like a religious rhetoric, but I assure you, our children’s identity is one of the most important issues that are facing them today. Their identity is how they define themselves and it will dictate what they do. Our identity is the “why” we do what we do.
If we don’t teach our children who they are in Christ all they will have to identity themselves with is their flesh: how thy look, feel, think and what they do.
The other day we were bowling when John Mark, my ten year old, started performing poorly. He became frustrated and started becoming critical of himself. I asked him, “Who are you?” He said, “Someone who stinks at bowling!” When I repeated my question he responded in an ugly tone, “I am a child of God! But Dad, that doesn’t have anything to do with bowling!” I told him, “You are right, and your bowling performance has nothing to do with who you are.”
Truth be known, we typically train our children to identify themselves by their flesh. We love them when they behave and proud of them when they succeed, teaching them that their identity is found in what they do.
Sometimes we make too big a deal over whether or not they have a boyfriend or girlfriend or if they are popular or not, teaching them to define themselves by how they are accepted by others. Other times we place too much importance on their academics and teach them that they are only people of worth if they achieve.
There is nothing wrong with wanting your child to succeed academically, behave appropriately or to have successful relationships, but when we spend more time praising these efforts instead of focusing on their true identity in Christ we leave them with a skewed view of themselves and set them up for certain failure.
If our children’s identity is tied up in being accepted by others then they are at risk of following the crown in order to fit in. If it is focused on their beauty they are at risk of abusing diet pills or developing eating disorders in order to “stay beautiful.”
Ask your children, “Who are you?” If they identify themselves according to their “flesh,” begin teaching them who they really are. By teaching our children who they really are in Christ we offer them an identity that will remain solid even when circumstances around them change.
Johnny Walker is a Christian Counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling. You can reach him at (770) 456-5547
posted by Johnny Walker at 10:10 PM
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