A friend recently asked me if I had any advice about how to bring children—who have been brought up knowing the truth and fallen away—back to Christ. As I prayed about this tough topic and asked the Lord to give me wisdom, He took my mind down memory lane. He reminded me of what brought ME back to Him after I had strayed from His presence.
You see, I had been born again in my first year of law school, but over the next 20 years—my love for God grew so cold that I came to a point where I didn’t even know if I had been saved. Even my sweet mother questioned my salvation! I was so far from God I couldn’t hear His voice or remember if I had ever known Him. I had become someone that I despised. I was so filled with anxiety that I was in constant need of any kind of euphoria to give me relief. I wasn’t addicted to drugs or alcohol—but I became addicted to myself—my looks, success, and rushes of pleasure. I worked hard to make money, took care of my children, did the “church thing” to keep up appearances, and played sports and worked out like my life depended upon it—sometimes even three times a day!
As I thought about what brought me back, it was easy to pinpoint. First, I had to come to the end of myself and my self-seeking satisfaction. I came to the point where nothing was ever enough. Simultaneously, as I was becoming more disenchanted with seeking self-satisfaction, I was also coming into contact with people who manifested the irresistible fruits of God’s Spirit. I longed to experience their peace and joy and be as loved as they so obviously were. They manifested the kind of goodness every human wants—love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, loving wisdom, and gentle strength. I knew they had a supernatural love relationship with Christ without them saying even one word about the Bible.
Through them I was seeing a side of God that I’d never really been aware of and—I was deeply attracted to HIM—in THEM.
I wanted this for myself. You see, I had already been taught the truth—for YEARS! So I didn’t necessarily need to hear more of what I already knew the Bible said. I didn’t need someone telling me that I was walking a destructive road. I was experiencing it every day. I already knew the torment of walking my own path. What I needed was to see proof of a better path in someone else. Love, joy, peace, kindness, compassion, gentleness…are undisguised and unmistakable.
I was only going to be tempted from my path of dissatisfaction by someone who was living in complete satisfaction.
If we want to lead our children back to a relationship with Christ we need to have a dynamic relationship with Him ourselves. Think about these verses that describe a supernatural and active relationship with Christ:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
Ask yourself—does this REALLY describe me? Take it a step further and define that little but powerful word “love” according to God’s Word:
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Does this describe you? Look, none of us is like this UNLESS the Holy Spirit is flowing freely through us. We must constantly be seeking to develop the mind of Christ and learn to love supernaturally within His Spirit. There is no way anyone is going to fake the fruits of God’s Spirit. But when our children see the real thing—they 100% can’t deny it. “Against such there is no law” could also be said to mean “you can’t argue with the real deal.” The manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit is much less of what we SAY and much more a call to ACTION. LOVE is work. JOY is a spiritual discipline birthed from finding unmitigated satisfaction in our relationship with God. And…right down the list.
So the first piece of advice I would give is this: We must HAVE the fruit of God’s Spirit before we can GIVE it away and—if our love, joy, peace, etc., are NOT from God it, will not only be patently evident but—we’ll run out real quick.
The second thought God gave me about bringing our children back to God is this: We need to be deadly serious about our prayer life. What if one of our children is on their way to hell because they’ve never been born again? Ask yourself: Has their life ever produced the fruit that is supposed to be evidence of Christ inside? And equally important, ask yourself—has yours? Do your children meet Jesus when they are with you?
My friend, this is serious stuff!
Can you imagine eternity without your child??? Prayer is one of our greatest weapons against the forces of sin and hell. We need to have relational prayer with God that falls in line with His Word. We need to pray without ceasing—meaning we operate on both ends of the prayer spectrum—from serious intercession to everyday constant communication with God. I know without a doubt that there were people—like my mom and a man named Ron Rone—who faithfully prayed for me for years. Their prayer was a huge factor in bringing me back to Christ!!!
So when I pray for those I love—including my own children—I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my prayers and intercede while I’m praying. He most certainly does—not only in HOW I pray, but WHEN I pray. And mind you—God’s call is not always convenient. In fact, there are those 2 a.m. calls to pray that I’m not always excited about but—I know if He is calling then I better not hang up because something big is about to go down. He knows the battle that’s raging on the other side of the world in Korea (where my son is) or in Denver and North Carolina (where my girls are) and I need to answer the call NOW. Prayer is likely one of the Christian’s most underrated and underused tools.
But if we’re willing and not lazy, God will teach us HOW and WHEN to pray.
The final thought about bringing children back to God is this: We must demonstrate passionate faithfulness to God which is borne of our love for Him. We do what we love. Humans are passionate about everything under the sun. But God’s presence needs to be what captures our heart. He needs to be what is on our mind. He should be our motivating drive and the reason for all we do. We need to develop the mind of Christ by spending quality time with Him EVERY day and living in loving obedience to Him in EVERY area of our life. Our passion for Christ is contagious. It is transformational for us and—it profoundly affects those around us!
So, in sum, the three thoughts God laid on my heart to share about how to influence children to walk with Christ are:
- Manifesting the fruits of God’s Spirit,
- Serious prayer, and
- A passionate relationship with Christ,
The application of these principles in the lives of others brought me back to God. In turn, this application has produced the Holy Spirit’s influence on people in my life.
I’ll never forget an incident about nine years ago, early in my passionate pursuit of God, that helped me realize the critical importance of these truths.
My son was getting ready to graduate high school and one morning before school he said we needed to talk. My first thought was “Oh no, what’s happened?” He asked that I make a nice dinner so we could have uninterrupted time together. That evening, we sat down to dinner and as we were eating, he looked across the table and—although I can’t remember word for word what he said—I’ve never forgotten the basic message:
”Mom, I want to thank you for living real. You don’t just talk about your relationship with God, you live it. Like, you don’t tell me I can’t have sex with girls while you’re sleeping with guys yourself. [Yes, he went there.] 😳You’re living what the Bible says. That’s why I share your devotionals with my friends. You’re a different Christian than you’ve ever been. I now know what it looks like.”
Tears of joy and gratefulness sprang to my eyes. I knew I still had so far to go—but it was quite possibly one of the greatest encouraging moments of my life. I could see the power Christ had worked through me in this young man whom I had so horribly failed during my marriage to his father. Despite all my past wickedness and the flaws I knew were still there—God’s powerful redemption was shining through. I had so far to go. I still do. But, the most important realization was—I was doing the best thing for him—living each day with a commitment to have a renewed and passionate love for Christ!
So if you’re struggling to bring a loved one to Christ…remember:
It is CHRIST in us that draws people to Him; without HIM—we are NOTHING.
My friends, if any of you have additional ideas from God’s Word, or your own experiences about how to bring others back to God, I would love for you to share in the comments!
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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