Creating a family environment for spiritual growth in your home. How do you do it? What does it look like? It can feel daunting to imagine how to cultivate a home that allows for spiritual growth. But it doesn’t have to be.
There are a few things I have done to ensure my family is in a place of growth and grace, and I’d like to share them with you.
- Being intentional goes a long way. Leaving our own spiritual life up to chance will never allow it to produce fruit. The same is true of our children. In order to cultivate a space rich for spiritual growth, we need to be intentional about making one. There are so many tools and ideas out there to choose from. The key is to find something that works well for your family and take the steps to make it happen.
Being intentional is a paramount foundation for spiritual growth. When we don’t make the time to do a little planning, we live by default rather than by design. Setting time aside to read the Bible together and discuss Who God is will help our children develop a better understanding of God and of themselves. This should happen regularly.
- Staying connected with God is vital. As a teacher of the Word, it is imperative we remain connected to God so we recognize His voice, His leading, His Word, and His Will for us and our children.
While we may not always learn everything about God before we can teach it to our children, it’s still essential for us to impart from a place of experience. How can we show God to our children through our own life and experiences? Those will be the best examples and proof of God’s awesome power. It’s important we make the time to learn about and talk to God consistently.
- Stepping outside the box brings growth. Breaking the status quo as a Christian is a must if we want to see growth. It’s important we step outside the walls in order to reach out to the needs of others and focus on loving people who are hard to love. This could look different for every family.
It could look like adoption. It could look like moving to a different city or state to be part of a community God wants you to minister to. It could look like visiting the local nursing home and spending time with residents there or serving in the local soup kitchen. Maybe you have a friend with a financial need you can meet. Maybe there’s a stranger with a financial need you can meet. The possibilities are really endless. In order to know what you can do, press in to God and be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
He has equipped us to serve and love others well – not just inside our family or our own circle, but outside as well. Be a family who is bold and lives outside the box. You will be amazed at not only the growth, but the blessing God will pour out on you.
- Creating a safe place for mistakes and failure. Something we may not think of is the environment we create for our family to make mistakes. Are we creating a safe place for mistakes to happen or are our children afraid to make mistakes because of how hard we’ll be on them over it?
I found myself in a place of being too harsh on my children when they make mistakes. Over time it made them fearful and they were afraid to come to me with honesty and confession. It is taking time to break this, but when I reassure my children we all make mistakes and God’s grace is big enough, it puts them at ease.
It’s not that they are given permission to be tyrants – children want to please their parents (and even those who seem they don’t, really do). But it frees them from the bondage of the fear of making mistakes. We simply need to be kind, understanding, and forgiving with our children.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to create an environment for spiritual growth within your family. But it gives you a few ways to get started and begin to dig your heels in. It’s important we are intentional about this, or it simply will not happen.
Be encouraged and challenged in the health of your family’s spiritual life!
