Teaching Your Children - Faithfulness

"I take thee to be my wedded husband...in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and I pledge thee my faith to you."

How many times have we heard these vows? They have been recited by couples all over at almost every traditional wedding ever held. We know the words so well that we can all probably say them in our sleep! In sickness. Check. In health. Easy. Love and cherish. Got it. Wait a second, what’s that part about pledging your faith, again?

Here’s where our marriage vows get a little more difficult to stand by. You might also insert the words loyal, constant, devoted, steadfast, unwavering or committed into that spot. A few years in, or maybe thirty years in, and suddenly we’re faced with hardships, hurts, stubbornness, or pride and that “faithful” part gets a little blurry.  How many once great marriages fall apart due to a lack of this key component?

What about our walks with Christ? We were once on fire for him, reading the word daily, hungering for his presence, and hearing his voice. Then somewhere down the road we got distracted or busy, and lost the “warm and fuzzies” and desire to run after him.

Faithfulness is an easy word to say, but a hard word to walk out.

When I think about what I want my kids to know about being faithful, it’s the picture of what faithfulness looks like in all situations. What does it look like to be a faithful friend, Christian, daughter or son, wife or husband, student, and so on. I want them to see that faithfulness isn’t just about our faith in God, like we often immediately think of, but it’s how we run the good race with our feet fueled by a love from our father, which allows us to endure all things and stay committed to those around us.

I want my children to learn to stick to their word, and realize the weight of a promise or vow. I want them to stay committed to learning, seeing the big payoff. I want them to stand by their family even in conflict, never letting hurts bring division. And above all, I want them to be firmly planted in God, walking alongside him through all of their days.

This lesson was a little harder for me to get creative with, so I ended up keeping it really simple, which actually turned into a really meaningful moment with great conversation! My husband and I took off our wedding rings and we sat at the table and let the kids try them on and giggle while we talked about what those rings meant and the vow that we took. We then led the discussion to talk about the decision they made or have yet to make to Jesus to follow him and how it’s similar to marriage vows. We talked about how both decisions can have plenty of hardships attached, but that the payoff to remaining faithful is great. We also talked about how they can be faithful in other areas of life. Jesus is a great example of faithfulness as he stayed faithful to his disciples and calling on earth, no matter how hard it got. And he remains faithful today no matter what we do!

After our discussion, we memorized 1 Samuel 12:24 “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”

Print this memory verse for display and easy reference through the week, as well as the entire Fruits of the Spirit Family Guide here!

As I finish this post, the words of one of my favorite worship songs plays in my head, as I am reminded of his faithfulness that allows us to be faithful back to him.

Faithful, You are

Faithful, forever, You will be

Faithful, You are

All Your promises are Yes and Amen

All Your promises are Yes and Amen

Lyrics from Yes and Amen by Housefires

Find lesson 7 on gentleness here!