As parents, we show our children the reality of our faith in two complementary ways: we give them the gospel story recorded in God’s Word and we live out the gospel story in our words and actions. How we talk and act makes the gospel story real to our children by showing them that we truly believe. Revelation gives us a powerful picture of the relationship between Christ’s saving work and the faithful testimony of those who believe in him.
“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
~ Revelation 12:10–11
That “loud voice in heaven” is God speaking—reminding John that the faith of those who gave up their lives for Christ demonstrated the genuineness of their faith. Their willingness to die rather than deny Christ provided powerful evidence that they truly believed the gospel they proclaimed.
While we, as parents, will not likely face this same serious test, the actions of our lives are critical. What we do will either bear witness to the truth of God’s Word we proclaim or undermine all we teach about Christ to our children. Simply put our example, our testimony, matters.
God’s Charge to Parents
God emphasizes the importance of testimony of our lives when he teaches the people of Israel how to pass on the truth of their salvation to the next generation. Before God tells the parents to teach their children, he tells them first to love God with all their heart and out of this love to obey his law themselves. Then he goes on to tell them to teach their children. This order ensures that the parents see their own faith as a first priority to passing it on to their children.
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:5–7)
The key to affirming to our children the truth of the message we proclaim comes from our testimony, and that’s based on what our children observe about our lives.
The Power of Example
We teach our children not to text on their phones while they drive. They hear the slogans “Eyes on the road, not on your phone,” and “Arrive alive: don’t text and drive.” But if our children grow up seeing us text while we drive, the testimony of our lives undermines the truth we give them. They need both the truth of salvation and the example of that truth demonstrated by our lives.
Children growing up in a Christian community learn all about the “blood of the Lamb.” They hear about the cross, that Jesus died to take the penalty they deserved, and that if they repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ, they will be saved.”
Yet God has also given parents the responsibility to live consistently with the gospel they proclaim. Our lives should commend rather than contradict the message our children hear from our lips. For God has given parents the responsibility to commend the truth of the gospel by the testimony of their lives—to first love the Lord with all our heart, soul and might. The Spirit of God can use this testimony to help imprint the reality of the truth of the gospel on the lives of our children.
Revelation calls Satan “the accuser.” Our enemy is eager to exploit the hypocrisy and inconsistencies in our lives to undermine our Christian witness. If we say we believe but our children rarely see us crack open our Bibles at home; if they rarely see us share our faith; if they rarely see genuine affection for Christ as we worship him; if they rarely see us get on our knees in prayer, or repent of our sin, what will they believe regarding the authenticity of saving faith?
Consider the opposite, what if they find themselves doubting the message of the gospel, but they regularly see us in the Word out of love for Christ; watch tears roll down our cheeks; see us sharing our faith at home with each other and with unbelieving neighbors and friends; if they see us on our knees in the morning and with hands lifted up in praise in the day, and hear us repent of our sin through our confessions of failings? If your children see all this, then the testimony of our lives affirms the theology we believe. The Spirit of God can use the testimony of our lives to impress upon our children the reality of the gospel they hear from our lips.
When our children see that we sacrifice for the kingdom giving generously of our income to the church, if they see us meet the needs of others less fortunate, then our lives testify that our true treasure is not in this world but in the world to come.
When our children see us give our lives in service to the King, they notice. We might be CEO’s of corporations or direct a hundred employees or be principles of our schools, but when we are willing to stack chairs, take time for choir practice, serve in children’s ministry or other of a hundred service opportunities for the sake of the kingdom, our children are watching.
This does not mean we need to be perfect parents. Our children need to see parents who know they need a perfect Savior. Even our failures can testify to the truth of the gospel when our children see us confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and turn again to the gospel of Christ.
Religion Is Not Meant to Be Private
There is a popular saying that says, politics and religion are off limits for conversation or religious belief is a “private thing.” Nothing could be further from what the Scripture teaches. Christian faith was never intended to remain a private conviction hidden from others. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) and “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
The gospel is meant to be proclaimed! This happens through our words as we tell everyone about the “blood of the Lamb,” and it is affirmed by our testimony—what we do with our lives.
As parents, then, let us give our children both the testimony of our words and our lives. Let us faithfully proclaim the gospel of the Lamb whose blood alone can save them, and let us live before them as men and women who genuinely believe the gospel we proclaim. May our children hear the truth of Christ from our lips and see the transforming power of Christ in our lives. Our children may one day say, “I do not believe.” But by God’s grace, may they never be able to say, “My parents didn’t believe,” for they heard of the blood of the Lamb through our teaching and saw the testimony of our faith through our lives.
God and Me
What better way to encourage our children to love God’s Word than to provide them with a tool to study the Bible for themselves? Best-selling author Marty Machowski invites kids to engage God through a Bible study written just for them. Readers will explore their “first story,” from the beginning of Genesis, learning who God is, how they are made to reflect God, how the world got messed up, and how Jesus can restore them.
