One way to build children of character and faith is by teaching them the importance of values. Values are seldom deliberately discussed in families, but kids will develop them either from you or from the world around them. Because values are so important to a child’s character development, they’re not something you want the world to teach. One way to be intentional about teaching your kids values is through conversations with them about their views, hopes, and desires. This post teaches you how to ask your kids the kind of questions that will help you understand them so you can help them develop godly values.
"Building Values" by Josh McDowell
Psalm 119:1
Father, I get so busy with the details of my life that sometimes I forget to spend time just hanging out and talking with my children. Help me to use the time You give me to have better conversations with my kids.
Am I taking the time to hear and learn about what is important to my children?
Play the If Game with your kids once or twice a month and really listen to what they are telling you. From this, you can find ways you need to guide them in their character development and faith.
Hanging out with your kids not only creates great memories, but also helps you get to know who they are as people. But if you let the busyness of life drive your schedule, you won’t have the time you need to just hang out and have casual conversations about their thoughts and dreams. Busyness can make us default to doing everything by habit rather than by intention. This also applies to the way we discipline our children. When we default to bribery and reward as a go-to system of discipline, we let our children be in charge and we have fewer opportunities to teach them about character and faith. The next post explains.