Pastor John D Jakes

We are now ready for the next few lessons of the “40 Lessons We Sought to Teach Our Children,” from Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Not just five, here are the next ten:

16. Give thanks to God in all things.

17. The importance of prayer.

18. The art of asking good questions, carrying on good conversation.

19. How to grow as a Christian.

20. How to handle temptation.

21. By faith, trust Christ as your Savior and Lord, and share with others how to become a Christian.

22. Seeking wisdom—skill in everyday living. Knowing how to make good decisions.

23. Gaining a sense of God’s direction and destiny for your life.

24. Stay teachable and not becoming cynical.

25. Obtain godly counsel.

These ten bring forward the importance of God’s presence in our lives. Consider this… if we just teach our children good morals and good behavior and they do not have God, what have they really got?  Our children need God.  We need God.  I need God.  Each of these lessons reinforces not just behavior or attitudes but a lifelong experience of God’s presence.  These lessons acknowledge how important God is to us.

Life is about more than just living our lives as good as we can.  Life is also about our spiritual connection to God.  In fact, it is this connection that makes life truly worthwhile.  Who is going to show them what this means?  Let me say, as a preacher, that they aren’t going to learn it from their preacher.  They will learn it from us, the parents.  They will learn it as we show them how faith is important to us in our everyday living.  How we make God a priority will help them to know that God is integral to everyday living.  They will see His importance to us.  They will come to know by example that God is not a concept or an idea.  They will come to know His reality and importance to us.

What a gift!  In a world where we appear to be all alone, we can give our children the comfort of God’s abiding presence. When they are told from every side that the natural is all there is, we can give them a real knowledge of the supernatural.  Give them this gift.  Give them the life of God.

Here’s to families,

Pastor John