I read a post where a teacher at a Christian School felt like they were a failure because they quizzed their children with a single question. “Why am I a Christian?” Most came back with answers like “because my parents are” or “because I believe in Jesus” or “my sunday school teacher taught me that” Most really didn’t know what Chrisianity was at that age. I am here to tell you, there is nothing wrong with those answers. Thank God that they are in Christian homes, being taught by their parents, Sunday school and Primary teachers etc. The sad thing is unfortunately, sometimes that is where it stops; They get told Bible stories, Jesus, God, all the basic stuff. They get taught at… meaning told from a script what to believe. Sometimes if they are lucky enough they get good examples from family members ..mom, dad, etc..
But as they get older, the world has a nasty way of making them forget and filling them full of “better or easier ways”. The world pushes fun, excitment. and the love of physical pleasure tantelizing all of their senses. With social media, all of the worlds views are at their fingertips. I don’t know all the answers. There is one who does and I trust He will reveal them when He is ready to do so, and not a minute sooner.
I’m going to tell you my story:
When I was little, my mother, father, and Sunday and Primary teachers told me children’s bible stories of Jesus, yet I’m sure if anyone would have asked me the question of “why am I a Christian” I probably could not have given any better jof an answer.
But, one thing I was also taught; is what faith is.
I was given examples of how things develop and grow. I was shown the beauty of nature and how it is realated to me, not just another of Gods creations, but as God’s child who was put in charge of caring for all of his creations. I was always encouraged to be creative myself.
The story of the mustard seed as compared to faith. So tiny, but once planted and neurtured, The tiny seed grows into one of the largest garden plants. Faith becomes a refuge symbolizing Jesus’s welcoming love and safety.
My Mom gave me the tools to do just that…. She told me true stories of how Jesus has been there for other children and gotten them through sickness, and hard times. Each story emphasized on reaching out to Him and talking with him…pray even though you cannot see him. Tell him when you are happy, sad, or scared. Do not be afraid to pray. Even when you make a mistake or do something wrong. Still pray, tell him how you feel. He will listen and he will bless. Oh believe me, some of my prayers were kind of silly now that I look back on them. I was kind of a fat kid and that was one of the things that seemed to make other kids dislike me. So every time I ate something, I would pray for God to make me lose weight. Or sometimes just pray for Him to keep the others from noticing me at all. I did keep praying and talking with Jesus. I learned that you cannot trust others around you to have your best interest at heart so I had a friend in Jesus who I knew I could trust to hear me and give me peace.
I was bullied at school, even by some of the teachers, I would come home in tears begging not to have to go back to school. I would have terrible nightmares. She would always tell me the same thing…”pray to Jesus, let him know how you are feeling, he will give you the strength to get through it” …”But don’t hate them, Jesus will not do revenge for you, he loves them too.” She even further reminded me often of how they made fun of and punished Jesus on the Cross but he asked Heavenly Father to forgive them because he knew they really didn’t know what they were doing. They were only doing what they learned by watching their parents or listening to faulty teachings taught by men” When she first said these things, I didn’t want to believe her, my pain made me angry. I just weanted it to stop. I was so lonely. But I still did always talk to Jesus. I never stopped. Many times I would feel the peace of his love. I wasn’t alone… but many times I found myself using angry words towards Heavenly Father too, but then I would apologize. I felt his forgiveness. I knew He loved me and even when He wouldn’t give me what I wanted I never stopped trusting and asking. because that mustard seed of faith was growing without me even knowing it.
I began to see the little miracles in things and I just knew in my heart that it was Jesus. As I got older and I started listening to the scriptures (I was dyslexic and never really could read the scriptures) I learned that it isn’t enough to just pray and talk to Him, I needed to listen to him, and then believe Him. This grows the faith, line upon line and precept upon precept …Pray, listen, and learn and then apply what you learn. One of the most important things is whatever you learn from man, before you believe it, pray and ask God whether it is true or not. Ask with an open heart and he will tell you.
Pretty soon I found myself recognizing the blessings and being thankful and wanting to be like Jesus and follow in his footsteps…..That my friend is when I became Christian.
Please parents and teachers, all you can do is teach them while they are young the best you can. We all have our free agency. Children as they grow are going to forget, make wrong choices. We all have our own journey and we need to suffer the consequences of our choices. God is alwayss there to help strengthen his children who might be suffering the painful consequences of others poor choices. But they have to reach out themselves and let him in. We can and should always pray for our children as well as forgive them for making poor choices.If you have done your best, God will not hold you accountable for their sins. “Please forgive them for they know not what they do. Their eyes will be opened one day. “Every knee shall bow, every tongue profess, of Christ”.
If you don’t believe me….ask Him.
I am so very thankful for these revelations and that tiny seed of faith I recieved as a child. And thankful to my Heavenly Father for trusting in me enough to give me my 6 beautiful children to love and raise.