What is one of the primary goals of every Christian parent?…
Reaching your child’s heart now so God can have your child’s heart forever. (Proverbs 22:6)
Yet many parents often miss that the war for the heart is usually won or lost on the battlefield of the mind.
Our enemy realizes this. Our culture realizes this. Christian parents must realize this as well.
There is a real battle going on for the precious hearts and minds of our children, and our enemy has stepped up his game and is playing for keeps.
Worldview Matters
Indoctrination is very real. And the greatest influence that culture has on our children is what it presents to them as normal. Change what’s normal, and over time, you have changed what’s accepted.
The most dangerous ideas in a society are not the ones that are being argued, but the ones that are assumed.” -C.S. Lewis
This is why winning the battle for the mind through establishing a biblical worldview in our children is so necessary.
A biblical worldview is about protecting your child’s heart through shaping your child’s mind. Because without it, capturing their heart for the long haul will be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Like two sides of the same coin, character, and worldview go hand in hand. They are both happening primarily in the middle seasons of your parenting.
Yet worldview usually follows the character’s lead like a younger sibling trailing closely behind in his older brother’s shadow.
By developing godly character at a young age you help prepare the soil of a child’s heart for a biblical worldview to take deep root.
Through character, you’re tapping into their heart. Through worldview, you’re intentionally shaping their mind.
Yet how often do we see young people with good hearts succumbing to the world’s arguments and questions against God and his word? Sadly, far more often than we’d like to admit.
Why is this? Why do good-hearted kids sometimes get sucked into belief systems far from biblical truth that ultimately leads them far from God?
In a variety of ways (through culture, media, technology, etc.) our enemy most often engages in war against our children’s hearts through the battlefield of their minds.
We must intentionally get there first. As parents, we must capitalize on the home-court advantage we’ve been given.
We can do this through simple and practical steps in our home.
Proactive Steps:
- Consistent family meal times around the dinner table
- Regular conversations about spiritual things and how to practically live out our faith in daily life
- Using current events to point to biblical truth
- Praying with and over our kids daily
Preventative Steps:
- Curbing culture’s influence by having simple and measurable rules and restrictions on technology in our home
- Having awareness and accountability of who and what is influencing our kids through what they watch and listen to
- Regularly asking questions like “What’s on your mind lately?”, “How can I be praying for you?”, or “Does the Bible give us any guidance on things like that?”
It’s All About Discipleship
In short, developing a worldview is really all about discipleship. And discipleship is not something you need to add to your already busy life. Discipleship is a lifestyle.
It’s about consistent habits of living out your faith with and in front of those you love through everyday moments.
There is no escaping habits and formation in a family. We become our habits. And our kids become us. Our family is a habit-making machine.” -Habits of the Household by Justin Earley
This is how a biblical worldview is formed in our kids. Like a fish in water, our faith needs to be the environment our kids live in day in and day out.
They see our faith. They want our faith. They emulate our faith. We have won their hearts, and we have shaped their minds.
A child’s worldview will often be reflected in direct proportion to a parent’s efforts at intentional discipleship.
Because the question is not whether or not your children will be discipled. Discipleship IS happening through their closest influences. The question is whether or not they will be discipled by you.
Never forget that the battle for the heart goes through the mind. And he who controls the mind wins the battle.
Your goal: Reaching your child’s heart now so God can have your child’s heart forever.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Godly Parent.
Featured Image by Elisa from Pixabay
