Part 1: Passing the Faith On: Guiding Your Child Toward God in a Screen-Filled World
Part 2: Psychological Abuse and Godly Parenting
New here? Start with the series introduction.
Passing the Faith On: Guiding Your Child Toward God in a Screen-Filled World
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'”
(Matthew 19:14)
Jesus had a special place in His heart for children. When His disciples tried to keep them away, He corrected the disciples and welcomed the children. He then taught that the kingdom of God belongs to those who receive it with a child’s simple faith (Mark 10:14-15).
Children are a precious gift from God, and also a responsibility. Speaking of Abraham, God said:
“For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord.”
(Genesis 18:19)
Godly parenting is more than providing food, clothing, education, and opportunity. These matter, but a child’s spiritual development must never be an afterthought.
The 21st-Century Child Needs Spiritual Guidance
Parents rightly want their children to excel academically, thrive socially, stay healthy, and be equipped for a fast-changing world. Yet in pursuing these goals, we can easily neglect the most important one: a living relationship with God.
Today’s children have unprecedented access to information, entertainment, games, and social media. Technology is not the enemy. It can be a powerful tool for spreading the gospel. The challenge is to keep it from replacing God or consuming the attention that belongs to Him.
Scripture gives us real hope:
“A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation.”
(Psalm 22:30)“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
(Isaiah 54:13)
But hope calls for partnership. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Training takes intentionality. Faith is not automatic just because a child is born into a Christian home. Children must see, hear, experience, and learn the ways of God.
Five Ways to Guide Your Child Toward God
1. Use technology to make God’s Word accessible.
Bible apps, worship music, age-appropriate Christian videos, podcasts, and educational resources can meet children where they live. Instead of only telling them to avoid technology, teach them to use it wisely and with purpose.
2. Teach them God’s Word at home.
God’s instruction to Israel is a model for every household:
“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… You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6:7-9)
Scripture was to fill the home, visibly and audibly, from morning to night. Faith cannot be confined to Sunday services or children’s church. Talk to your children about God. Answer their questions, including the hard ones. Read the Bible together. Let them see you pray, forgive, serve, and worship.
The home is the foundation and the filter for a child’s choices. What is built there stays for many years.
3. Pray for them.
Parents cannot control every influence their children will meet, but they can bring them before God continually. Pray for their character, friendships, decisions, education, emotional wellbeing, spiritual growth, and future. The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And when you lack wisdom for the task, remember the promise: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
Prayer does not replace responsible parenting. It expresses our dependence on God.
4. Involve children in God’s work.
Give children opportunities to serve, give, worship, help those in need, and take part in age-appropriate outreach. When they see themselves as part of God’s work, faith becomes something they live, not merely something they learn.
5. Depend on the Holy Spirit.
No parent can produce faith in a child’s heart by technique or effort. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things” (John 14:26) and “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Invite Him into your home, your teaching, and your parenting decisions. He can reach your child in places you cannot.
Let Us Raise a Godly Generation
The 21st-century child faces pressures earlier generations did not face in the same way. But the answer is not fear. It is intentional, Christ-centered parenting.
We must not surrender our children to the culture, the internet, or peer pressure. Neither should we raise them in isolation from the world. We equip them with biblical truth, wisdom, discernment, and a genuine relationship with Christ.
Our children are not only the next generation. They are a generation that needs our investment today. Let us teach them, listen to them, model Christ before them, and pray for them. Let us build homes where they can encounter the love and truth of God.
The responsibility of raising godly children belongs to all of us. Let us arise, take our place, stand in the gap, and faithfully nurture the children God has entrusted to us.
If you are not sure you have a relationship with Christ, the final section of Part 2 is for you.
Continue the series:
Next in the series → Part 2: Psychological Abuse and Godly Parenting
Passing on the faith is more than teaching verses. It is also about the atmosphere of the home. In Part 2, we look at how our words and attitudes shape the hearts of our children and spouses.
Missed the beginning? Start with the series introduction.
