The Spiritual Beliefs of Children

There is a profound difference in memorization and knowledge based understanding. Many individuals enter adulthood with a set of principles and beliefs that have more to do with family tradition than self-exploration. Consider the possibility that the lack of individual ownership in these beliefs may explain the ease with which they are abandoned by many adults.

Most children raised in a Christian home learn the Ten Commandments, the miracle of Christ and other dominant Biblical principles at a very young age. They are rewarded for memorizing Bible verses, participating in the children's choir and Sunday School attendance. All of these are excellent motivators and encourage a level of interest and commitment that is important in their development.

However, as children develop, it is beneficial if their need to understand Christian beliefs is treated similarly to their need to grasp the concept of many other subjects in their lives. In school, children are indeed expected to do nothing more than memorize certain concepts when they are young. Yet, as they grow older and mature, memorization is no longer enough. Older children are expected to grasp the concepts behind the ideas, understand the reasoning behind the lessons, embrace the connection between cause and effect. We understand the importance of this in the math class or science lab. The same principles must apply concerning their belief system.

Most human beings treat rules quite differently than they treat beliefs. Asking your children to blindly accept the principles and moral standards by which your family lives is nothing more than having them memorize a set of behavioral rules. Even those children who flawlessly follow the rules are doing nothing more than following the rules.

In contrast, children who are taught the origin of your family's belief system, along with the benefits of it and the obstacles created by ignoring it, are less apt to see these issues as family rules and more likely to embrace them as individual beliefs. If your child knows it is against the rules to touch the stove, he may still do so when you are not looking. If he knows he will burn his hand if he touches the stove, he most likely will avoid making that mistake regardless of his chances of getting away with it.

This same principle applies when it comes to a Christian belief system. If your child knows it is against the rules for him to treat other children badly, he may still do so when you are not with him. On the other hand, if he deeply believes that his actions toward others should be the same as those he would want for himself or the same as those Jesus would show toward him, suddenly he becomes a young man who would have great difficulty being unkind to another.

If your family has not done so already, spend some time creating a formalized list of your most deeply held beliefs. Question them. Why do you believe as you do? What forms the basis for these beliefs? Find the scriptures that support them and understand the context of those scriptures. Only then can you give your children the gift of understanding. Only then can you help them embrace these beliefs and view them as something far more important than family rules and negotiable expectations.

Teach your children to believe.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds