Teenagers & Parenting

It is about time for me (Adrian) to open an IRA account, or maybe I should have already taken care of that. To some people my age it may seem too premature to think about what will happen when they retire; but if they don’t begin thinking about it now, it will at some point be too late. In Sunday’s message I referred to raising Godly loving teens in comparison to an IRA account; you see little growth day in and day out, but over time what you put in adds up, and when it has had time to reach maturity, what you invested made a huge difference. Raising teenagers means you will you see occasional growth, at other times there will be setbacks, but over time the investment you’ve made in your teenager (or any aged kid) makes a tremendous difference in their life.

Raising God-loving teens may often seem like a daunting task, but as the parent you are the primary influencer. Here are 5 simple ways you can disciple your kid of any age.

• Model it. The walk with Christ you want for your kids will be heavily influenced by the life you live.
• Teach it. Not only should you model the life you want, but take & use everyday moments to teach your kid what it means to walk with Christ.
• Facilitate it. Be proactive about your kid’s walk with Jesus. Look for ways to create conversations about their spiritual life. Perhaps that means reading and discussing the same scripture, devotional, or Christian book together. This will also mean helping to guide and influence decision-making.
• Simplify it. Don’t think you must create a worship service everyday. Jesus used simple methods from everyday life to impact and lead His disciples. Be intentional, but not overly organized.
• Delegate it. Your kids need more than just you. Though you are the primary influencer, one of the roles of the church is to come alongside families in raising their kids. Kids need multiple people teaching them on multiple levels (sports, academics, music, etc.) and walking with Christ is no different. They need trusted people pouring into their life.

Though I did not mention it the above 5; the best and most important act you can do for your kid or teenager is pray for them. Go to God daily on behalf of your child and plead with Him to make them into the Godly person He wants them to be.

Here is a link to Sunday’s sermon from the website in case you missed it. http://graceforall.org/grace-sermons/

My prayer is that God will use parents to raise up a generation of God-loving, Christ-exalting teenagers.