5 Key Things That Will Cause Kids to Stick With the Faith

We know lots of kids grow up and walk away from the faith. I don't know if anyone knows the exact percentage, but even if one child walks away, it's one too many.

As parents and church leaders, we look back and wonder if we could have done some things differently and seen a different outcome.

What would have made the difference?

What did we not teach them that we should have?

How could we have communicated the truth to them more effectively?

What could we have better instilled in them?

How could we have been a better example of what it means to follow God?

Looking back at my children's ministry leadership journey, I can relate to all of these and I am sure many of you can as well.

As I have watched kids grow up in my ministry over the years, I have observed five key things that the kids who continue to serve Jesus have in common.  Let's talk about these.

Number One - kids who grow up to follow Jesus for a lifetime have PARENTS who have genuinely lived out the faith.

We know this - parents are the biggest influence in a child's life. The time kids spend with their parents far outweighs the time they spend at church. 

As I look back at my time growing up, I realize that my parents lived out their faith in a genuine manner. I could argue with what they taught me from the Bible, but I couldn't argue with how they lived their life.

Are there perfect parents?  Of course not. But there are parents who follow Jesus in a compelling manner and kids pick up on this.

Parents who not only talk the faith, but walk the faith as well, will have kids who grow up to do the same.

Studies show that a huge factor is fathers attending church regularly.  

Did you know that if a father goes to church regularly, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend as adults. 

This means we must pour into parents and equip them to influence their children for Christ.

This should happen on a weekly basis as the church gives parents what their children were taught at church.  Key discussion questions and activities should be provided for follow-up tools for parents.

Another big way we can influence parents is through spiritual milestones. Spiritual milestones are key moments in a child's life when parents have the opportunity to speak into their lives. In my local church, where I serve as the pastor to children and families, we observe five spiritual milestones. 

• Parent & Child Dedication

• Bible Presentation

• Salvation

• Baptism

• Elementary Graduation

All of these are high impact opportunities for parents to impact their children.  You can get the milestone kits I use at this link.

Number Two - kids who grow up to follow Jesus for a lifetime are taught apologetics.

They know why they believe what they believe.

They are taught how to defend their faith.  

They find and solidify the correct answers to the hard questions before they hear the wrong answers. 

They go to college ready to defend their faith. 

The Bible talks about shallow faith.  When this shallow faith is confronted with the heat of hard questions, it wilts.  

It is extremely important that you build in apologetics as part of your teaching strategy.  In Connect12 curriculum, I have made sure that we teach apologetics with teaching series like Pranksters and Mythbusting.

I also recently published a 30 day discipleship plan for kids so their faith can be grown strong and deep enough to withstand attacks on their faith.

Number Three - kids who grow up to follow Jesus for a lifetime are involved in serving.  

There is something about serving that helps kids solidify their faith.  Kids, just like adults, were created to do good works.  Faith without works is dead according to God's Word.  The logical conclusion is that faith with works is alive.  If we want to see children with a faith that is alive, then we must give them opportunities to serve even from a young age.

Serving in ministries at church will change a child's life. 

Serving on mission trips will change a child's life. 

Serving at home will change a child's life. 

Serving in the community will change a child's life. 

Kids don't have to wait until they are adults to serve. Think about the many children in the Bible who served as a child or teenager.  Samuel.  Jesus.  David.  The little maid.  On and on the list could go. 

Kids are ready and eager to serve. If you want to see kids' faith grow, then get them involved in serving.

Number 4 - Kids who follow Jesus for a lifetime, have other people who invest in them. 

As I previously mentioned, parents are a huge part of seeing kids follow Jesus for a lifetime. But I have also found that God will send other people who reinforce what the child's parents are teaching them. It might be a children's pastor or a small group leader or a youth pastor or a godly man or woman in the church. 

Looking back at my own experience, God brought several people into my life who helped me grow in my faith and develop a strong faith foundation.  To this day,  what they taught me and modeled before me, sticks with me. 

I want to encourage you to keep investing in kids.  Your influence is making a difference in their life and will continue to do so in the future. 

Your labor...your investment in their life...will not return void. It will impact them for the rest of their life. What you do and who you are is so important in the life of the children God has given you an opportunity to invest in. It will make the difference. 

Number 5 - Kids who follow Jesus for a lifetime, don't just know about Jesus...they know Jesus personally. 

There is a difference.  A big difference.

I believe that many of the children who walk away never really knew Jesus to start with and unfortunately, I think we bear much of the blame for this. 

I'm not a fan of large group salvation prayers for children.  I believe we must take time to help children understand what it means to know and follow Jesus personally.  That is the reason I created a salvation class for kids and parents to attend together where the Gospel is clearly shared and children are able to ask questions and have the opportunity to own their faith.  

God doesn't have any grandchildren. He only has children.

The most important thing we teach children is the Gospel.  We must make sure we get this right. 

Recently, I was sharing about a young lady who grew up in our ministry.  She is making a major impact in college now for the Kingdom and is following Jesus passionately. 

Looking back now at her life as she was growing up, all five of these factors were evident in her life. Her parents modeled faith in Christ.  She was taught apologetics.  She was involved in serving.  As she moved into her teen years, she lead a small group of elementary kids and even taught large group lessons.  She had people who invested in her life.  She has a personal relationship with Jesus.

I also recently heard about another young lady who grew up in our ministry who is now serving as a youth ministry director.  All five elements were at work in her life as well.

Even though we hear of many kids who walk away, there is great hope as we work and pray to see these factors become evident in the lives of the kids we minister to. 

May God help us to make it a reality.