“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4
There is a kind of joy that is unlike anything else in this world—and if you are a parent, you already know what I mean. It is the joy of watching your child actually choose God. Seeing them pick up a Bible without being prompted. Hearing your child pray like they really mean it. Watching your child serve someone else without being asked. There is nothing quite like it! God’s Word is full of glorious promises about how to enjoy the blessing of seeing our children becoming this kind of blessing:
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” (Psalm 127:3-5)
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
God has always had a plan for faith to move from one generation to the next—not to skip a generation. So, what is the number one thing we can do to give our children the best possible chance of walking with God, being born again, living an abundant life, and one day standing before the judgement seat of Christ with joy instead of regret? Well, it is not a church program. It is not a Christian school, as good as those things are. It is not family devotions, though those matter too.
The number one thing we can do for our children is to live in a transparent and deep relationship with Christ.
That’s it.
Our children will not become what we tell them to be; they will become what they see us love.
If our late nights and our best energy are going toward making more money, our children are going to grow up believing that money is the thing most worth chasing. If our biggest passion is our house, status, or the highlight reel life, our children are soaking that in whether we realize it or not. And if we go to church on Sunday but live the rest of the week no differently from the world culture of the world around us, our children are not fooled. Children watch everything. They are always watching.
And if what they watch is a “Christianity” that is mostly just for show—something we put on when it is convenient and take off when it is not—then we should expect them to walk away from it the minute they are old enough to make their own choices. Hypocrisy never satisfies the soul. It is a counterfeit. We all need the real thing. Jesus did not mince words about this:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27)
A polished life on the outside might fool people at a distance. But our children do not watch us from a distance. They are right there—at the dinner table, in the car, and on the hard days when money is tight, and marriage is strained, and life is not going the way we planned. That is where they see what we are really made of, and this is what shapes them.
But here is the good news.
When our kids watch us pursue God for real—not as a performance or out of obligation, but because we are genuinely convinced that He is worth it—something happens in them. They see the REAL fruit of the Spirit, and THIS is hard to argue against.
“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)
When our children grow up watching us exhibit God’s Spirit, they want it. Who wouldn’t? The fruit of God is the most powerful voice of our faith. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he did not start with a list of rules or a theology lesson:
“When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5)
Genuine faith is a powerful gift. Friends, we cannot guarantee our children’s salvation, because every person has to make their own choice to surrender to Christ. But don’t you want to give them the best shot at it? What we can do is give our kids the clearest picture of Jesus we possibly can. And the clearest picture they are ever going to see is through you and me.
And this does not only apply to parents.
Every single one of us is an ambassador for Christ, and our lives are always speaking to someone. The grandparent who prays openly at the dinner table. The aunt or uncle who shows up consistently and loves without strings attached. The neighbor who helps in a hard season. We never fully know whose eternity our lives are quietly shaping. Paul wrote:
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Every one of us has a sphere of influence that matters for eternity. So, let me ask you the question I have had to ask myself more than once:
“If your children grew up and became exactly who they see you being right now — who will they become?”
If that question stings a little, then good. It has stung me too. But that sting is not condemnation—it is an invitation. God is not done with us yet, and every day is a fresh start to be the real thing in front of the people who need to see it most.
When you live your life like Christ means everything to you, He produces the most powerful version of you!
Prayer:
Lord, I have to be honest—there have been plenty of days when the things of this world have received more of my heart than You did—more of my time, more of my energy, and more of my passion. Forgive me for those days, and for what others may have seen in them. I want to be the real thing. I want to be real. I want to one day stand before You and say, “Here I am, and here are the children You gave me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
