5 Most Important Things To Know About How to Raise Godly Children

There are no guarantees when it comes to raising godly children. There’s no magic formula or way to be sure that your kids will grow up to know and love the Lord.

But my greatest desire is that each of my children would grow up to have a personal relationship with Jesus and walk with Him all the days of their lives.

So as a mom, my goal is to do everything in my power to lead them and guide them towards what I know to be the truth about Jesus. It may not work out exactly the way that I want it to, but it’s important for me (and all Christian parents) to do our part in doing what it takes to raise godly kids.

There are five areas that I try to focus on that are within my power to use to influence my kids that I’ll share below.

The rest is up to the Holy Spirit!

BEING A GOOD EXAMPLE IS CRITICAL TO RAISING GODLY CHILDREN

There’s something I’ve noticed as a parent. If I spend a lot of time doing something, my kids will start to do it too.

If stare at my phone too much, my kids will find pretend phones and stare at them just like I do.

If I have a bad attitude and yell at them in a moment of anger, they start yelling at each other when they get frustrated.

On the flip side, if I workout regularly and try to eat well, they take notice and start talking about how they want to be healthy too. If I spend a lot of time reading when they’re around, they start to take more of an interest in reading as well.

The same is true for godly living. There’s no getting around it! If you want to raise godly children, you have to work towards being a godly person yourself.

“Do as I say and not as I do” can work in some situations, but definitely not this one.

Your kids aren’t going to prioritize godly living or a relationship with God unless they see you doing it first.

Spend time studying your Bible and in prayer. Surround your family with community of other Christians. Make it a priority to get to church every week. Make sacrifices in order to serve others.

Let your kids see you do it. They’ll learn more from watching you live a life for Jesus than they ever will from listening to you talk.

DISCIPLINE YOUR KIDS – EVEN IF IT’S HARD

As parents, we love our kids. We want them to be happy. That can make following through with discipline really hard. Kids are generally pretty mad when we give them a punishment or take away a privilege.

Discipline doesn’t feel good, for them or for us!

In Hebrews, it talks about how “no discipline is pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Kids who aren’t disciplined aren’t fun to be around. They make the people around them, and themselves, miserable. They certainly don’t have the advantage when it comes to becoming godly people one day.

As painful as it is to discipline your child, it’s one of the best ways to show her love. The results will be so worth it.

TEACH THEM GOD’S WORD

Ultimately, it’s up to our kids to decide whether or not they want to live a godly life or not. We don’t have control over the choices that they make in the end. But while they’re in our homes, we have the privilege and responsibility to teach them the truths found in the Bible.

After all, how can we raise godly kids without teaching them what God’s word actually says?

So memorize scripture with them, teach them theology, and study the Word together. Those lessons and words will stick with them forever.

Here’s a few resources I love to use in my quest to raise godly children:

• Table Time Guide from Mama Systems
• Scripture Memory System from Charlotte Mason
• ABC Theology Cards from Tiny Theologians

PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO GROW INTO GODLY ADULTS

As Christians, we have no greater weapon or tool than prayer. We have direct access to the God of the universe! What a privilege.

One of the most important things we can do for our kids is cover them in prayer on a regular basis. Pray for their safety, their health, their relationships, their salvation, their walk with God, their future spouse…the list goes on.

Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what to pray or how to do it. When I’m struggling to know how to pray for my kids, I love to refer to Stormie Omartian’s Power of a Praying Parent.

She has 30 days of prayers written out for you that you can use to pray over your own kids. I love it because it helps me pray about things and in ways that I never would have thought to do on my own!

INVEST IN YOUR MARRIAGE

Your marriage is an important part of raising godly children. It’s hard to gives kids a good spiritual foundation outside of a solid marriage relationship. That’s not to say that godly kids don’t come out of other types of family situations, but it’s definitely harder.

But sometimes having kids can be hard on a marriage. So make it a priority.

Take the time to be with your spouse. Go on dates, have deep conversation, have fun, encourage each other, address issues that you have, and work together as a team.

The marriage relationship is a beautiful picture of the love that we have in Christ, so let that speak life to your kids.

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