Love is the Goal

As our children grow up we think of all the possibilities, hopes and dreams that they are going to full fill whether it's our dreams for them or their dreams. Even in Christiandom we think about how amazing these little ones will be when they are functioning in their full gifting, calls, and destinies. Unfortunately what happens often is that our church communities are based on performance, we start becoming human doings instead of human beings. What our children see is that our significance or how they get to feel powerful is by performing. We unknowingly model that the most significant value in our culture is performance. Not that operating out of our gifting isn't good or that we shouldn't train our children in their talents, gifting, or calls but we have to keep first things first.

What is the first thing? What is the goal with our children? How do we create a culture where it's not based on performance but relationship?

Matthew 22:37 - And he said to them" You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Love is the goal, we are going to talk throughout this blog about many ways to create a Kingdom culture in the home, church, school, and community but above all throughout the different blogs I will address over and over the number one goal of our lives..is love...

If our children don't get this we have done them a huge disservice. We can't call ourselves a pure representation of the Kingdom if our goal with God and others is not love. Love is what we were created for, what we are called to, and what we die for.

In this blog I'm going to talk about the first commandment and how we can demonstrate that to our children. In subsequent blogs I will talk about loving others and then what love looks like. If we as adults don't know what love looks like how can we properly teach and model what love is. Our lives have to reflect these core values of love. The love that we profess has to line up with the definition of I Corinthians 13. If our love doesn't look like that I want to challenge you that it's not love at all.

How do we demonstrate how to Love the Lord with everything to a generation who doesn't know God yet?

Bill Johnson says " There are no grandchildren in the Kingdom of God." What does that mean?

When I was a child I remember telling my father that I didn't want his God I wanted my own God. While I expressed the wording of that wrong the idea and the concept was there. I wanted my own relationship with God I didn't want to live through my fathers relationship with God I wanted God to talk with me. While we as a body have come a long way in realizing that we can have personal relationship with our Maker, what I find is that a lot of people don't know how to create opportunities for children to have their own relationship with God. Either it's because of fear or because we think that the children will hear a demonic voice over God's voice or parents/teachers really want control over their children because they want them to perform a certain way so giving them rules is easier then letting them take their own journey with the Lord. There are numerous fears, concerns, and honestly they all come from a place where we don't trust our children with their Creator.

If you find yourself in any of these mindsets ask God to forgive you and to show you how to trust Him with your children. It's ok if your children don't get it right the first time we create a space for them to encounter God on their own, have their own relationship with Him and then we help them process that out.

So how do you create this opportunity for your child? Well...how do you hear God's voice? If you don't feel like you know how to hear God's voice or you wouldn't know how to explain that to a child there are some great resources out there on how to teach children how to hear the voice of their Father. I teach children everywhere how to hear the voice of God and I can tell you from experience that it's easier for children to hear God then adults sometimes and you don't have to get all theological or even biblical God tells them the things that you can find in the Word. It's amazing when children don't even know Bible stories and God will tell them by them just listening.

Number one thing teach them to hear the voice of God, then give them an opportunity to hear Him. For example as a family you can pray and ask God to show you all a picture for another person in your family or what He thinks of each of you. Then share as a family what you feel God is telling you. Of course this is always full of love, comfort, lifting up, and making someone stronger. Teach you children that even if God corrects you there is so much love through it all you don't even feel like you got corrected.

1. Teach kids how to hear Gods voice

2. Practice as a family

3. Journal what God is saying to you child it's important to keep a history.

4. Make it a habit in your family to hear the voice of God

Being a model and example of how to enteract with God helps children connect.

You as a parent/teacher can say something like.. I feel like God wants me to tell you that He loves it when you laugh..or whatever He's saying. Just make sure that you don't ever use the voice of God to manipulate, control, or use a child. When they hear the commonality of this language they will get use to the norm of hearing God's voice.

Another thing I feel is important is for parents is to show that God is the number one priority in the home. Whatever this looks like for your family. For example, mommy is going to have her quiet time with Jesus while daddy plays with the kids or every morning we start with reading the Bible and see what God is saying for the day. Demonstrate that you have a personal relationship with God and that they can have one too. You can even make a fun thing out of it say," would you like me to set up a time for you to meet with Jesus today? Would you like to clean your room, put your best clothes on for you "date " with Jesus?" This helps them see that you value their quiet time as well. I know as parents we want to know everything that our children are hearing from God but it's their relationship with Him. You don't tell your children everything God tells you so you shouldn't demand that from them. Tell them that Jesus has secrets just for Him and them to keep between them. This really makes their relationship with God special and helps them see you aren't violating their relationship with Him.

As a family you can create core values that make God the head of all decisions. For example if there's a major family decision to be made ask all the family members to pray and ask God what He thinks of the problem. Then listen as your children start telling you what they feel God is saying it will shock you how accurate they are.

Make God the priority throughout the day not in a religious way but in a relational way. God is a relational God. Think how you would act if you had this really important person in your life that your children didn't know but you wanted them to get to know Him and get to love Him as much as you do. This can not be an external pressure but an internal desire. You as the parent/teacher demonstrate throughout your life the power of the relationship you have with God. Include your children in the testimonies of what God has done in your life or what He's doing in your life. Share your testimony with your children. Let them know how good God has been to you and how amazing He is. The children of Israel would tell stories of their forefathers and How God showed up and these children grew up in a culture of hearing how amazing God was and all the things that He did. They were surrounded by the testimony all the time and it created in them this reality that God if He did it once He can do it again!

You as a parent or teacher have this amazing opportunity to shift the culture in your home to one of freedom, love, relationship, and peace. A new generation of parents are rising up imparting Kingdom culture into their homes. I have to encourage you all because I know that it can be hard to go against opinions, traditions, mindsets, and norms but Heaven is Invading this earth and where it invades is your homes, your children, and your lives that's the power of the transformation of the cross. So be encouraged till next time be blessed...

Aileen Foos

Children's Pastor

Expression58

www.expression58.org