Building Faith in Children
Train up a child
Spiritual formation is the life-long process of growing our relationship with God and becoming more like his son Jesus Christ. It is a process that starts with children.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Proverbs also shares wisdom and godly guidance:
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
The learning resources on this page are intended to assist parents as they teach their children about God. There is a lot of good information to read, listen to, and absorb in these materials, which we pray will strengthen both parents and children in their faith walk.
Habits of the Household
In this book, Justin Whitmel Early provides tools and guidance for parents to build spiritual formation habits into your daily rhythms like meals and bedtimes. The author also provides a framework for discipline based on discipleship.
Parenting
Author Paul David Tripp shares 14 gospel centered principles for parents wanting to instill faith in their children. The book includes study questions after each chapter, suitable for personal or group study.
Raising Worry-Free Girls
Childhood anxiety rates, especially among girls, is on the rise. Author and counselor Sissy Goff provides insights and direction for parents of girls to help them learn how to overcome fears and understanding God's love for them.
Raising Emotionally Strong Boys
Author David Wright shares insights from his many years of counseling families of boys. His guidance helps parents deal with the anger, depression, and anxiety often faced by boys, providing constructive paths forward.
Sticky Faith
"Because faith development is a lifelong process for all of us, it is never too late to be more intentional in your parenting and the faith you model and discuss with your kids." Kara Powell and Chap Clark share many other practical teachings for building faith in children that will last a lifetime.
Additional Resources
Alicia Williamson shared a Spiritual Formation of Children Workshop at the 2024 Harding University Inspire Lectureships. The workshop included two lectures and a panel discussion. Below are links to those three recordings on the Harding University website. In the window that open when you click these links, click on the session title or Download button, then select Open to listen or Save As to download the MP3 audio file to your device.
ChildrensMinistry.com has a good summary article on the spiritual formation of children at different ages and levels of development from infants to pre-teens.
Barna has a good article on parent's concern regarding their childrens' faith formation. This article contains numerous links to articles on related topics.
Background articles: Why are young people leaving their faith?
Young people often leave their religious backgrounds behind when they go to college. Current statistics show that 66% of young people will leave their faith and the church. These articles from Pew, Church Leaders, Barna, Ministry Brands, and Gallup provide some insights as to why this is happening, and the impact to church attendance in America. While not endorsing these groups, understanding the problem is the first step in addressing it, and these perspectives can help provide a basis for improvements.