Raising Children Who Make Faith Their Own
How to pass your faith to the next generation
Most Christian parents hope for something deeper than simply raising children who behave well or attend church.
We long to see our children develop a genuine relationship with Jesus that becomes their own.
Years ago, a friend challenged me with a powerful vision for his family: to pray for an unbroken line of faith, generation after generation choosing to follow Jesus.
It’s a beautiful picture of legacy.
But faith isn’t passed from one generation to another automatically. We can teach our children what we believe, bring them to church, and encourage them to make wise choices, but ultimately, they need to choose to follow Christ for themselves.
So what can we do as parents?
Two words have become especially important to me over the years: authenticity and intentionality.
Our children need to see a faith that is real, and they need parents who intentionally help them understand what that faith looks like in everyday life.
Here are six ways we can begin.
1. Keep a soft heart toward God
Before we worry about our children’s relationship with God, we need to pay attention to our own.
Ezekiel 11:19 speaks about God replacing a heart of stone with a heart of flesh. That picture of a soft, responsive heart has always challenged me.
Are we willing to listen when God corrects us? Are we growing? Are we allowing His truth to change the way we live?
Our children have a front-row seat to our faith. They see whether Christianity is something we talk about on Sunday or something that genuinely shapes us throughout the week.
They don’t need perfect parents.
They need parents whose lives are moving toward Jesus.
2. Invest in your marriage
One of the most powerful ways parents can demonstrate their faith is through the way they love one another.
Our children notice how we speak to our spouse. They notice affection and friendship, but they also notice criticism, tension, and distance.
A healthy marriage gives children a powerful picture of commitment, security, forgiveness, and sacrificial love.
That doesn’t mean hiding disagreements or pretending everything is perfect. It means allowing your children to see two imperfect people who continue choosing to love one another and invite God into their marriage.
Your marriage may be one of the first places your children see what committed, Christ-centred love actually looks like.
3. Let your children see forgiveness
Every family experiences conflict.
We disappoint each other. We lose our patience. We say things poorly. Feelings get hurt.
What matters is what happens next.
Forgiveness gives our children an opportunity to see the gospel lived out inside their own home.
Colossians 3:13 tells us to forgive one another as the Lord forgave us.
That means parents need to be willing to apologize too.
When you lose your temper with your child, go back and make it right. When there is tension in your marriage, work toward reconciliation. Don’t allow pride to keep relationships divided.
A strong family isn’t one that never experiences conflict. It’s one that learns how to come back together when conflict happens.
When our children experience grace at home, they begin to understand something about the grace of God.
4. Make your home a place where love is experienced
Jesus said His followers would be recognized by their love for one another.
That should begin at home.
Our children need more than the knowledge that we love them. They need to experience our love.
Encourage them. Listen to them. Laugh with them. Hug them. Celebrate who God has made them to be. Create a home where they know they belong, even when they make mistakes.
And help siblings learn to love one another too.
Over time, those everyday acts of kindness and care create a family culture where love isn’t simply discussed. It’s practiced.
The greater the relationship, the greater the influence.
5. Live the faith you want your children to have
Our children learn an enormous amount simply by watching us.
They notice what gets our time.
They notice how we respond when life doesn’t go our way.
They notice how we treat people when there’s nothing to gain from it.
They notice whether we pray, whether Scripture matters to us, whether we serve others, and whether following Jesus actually affects our decisions.
That raises an important question:
If your children were asked what matters most to you, what would they say?
Our actions often answer that question more clearly than our words.
If we want our children to develop a living faith, they need opportunities to see a living faith in us.
As 1 John 2:6 reminds us, those who claim to live in Christ should seek to walk as Jesus did.
6. Talk intentionally about faith
Modelling faith is essential, but that doesn’t mean we should remain silent.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 gives parents a beautiful picture of faith being woven naturally into family life. We’re encouraged to talk about God’s truth at home, along the road, when we lie down, and when we get up.
In other words, faith conversations don’t have to happen only during formal family devotions.
Look for teachable moments.
Talk about what God is teaching you. Pray together when someone is struggling. Help your children think through decisions from a biblical perspective. Talk about relationships, money, work, sexuality, integrity, serving others, and the other realities they will encounter as they grow.
But remember that how we communicate matters.
Faith shouldn’t constantly feel like another lecture from Mom or Dad. Ask questions. Listen. Invite conversation. Make your home a safe place for doubts and difficult questions.
Your life gives credibility to your words, and your relationship gives you influence.
What kind of legacy are you building?
Passing our faith to the next generation isn’t about finding the perfect parenting formula.
It’s about creating a home where following Jesus is both authentic and intentional.
Keep your own heart soft toward God.
Invest in your marriage.
Practice forgiveness.
Love your family freely.
Live out what you believe.
And intentionally help your children understand why your faith matters.
Then trust God with what you cannot control.
Years ago, our family adopted a simple phrase that helped us express what we wanted our children to remember:
Put God first. Life goes best.
Your family may use different words. What matters is that your children see, hear, and experience a faith worth carrying into their own homes someday.
Our children will eventually make their own choices. But while they are in our care, we have an incredible opportunity to show them what it looks like to genuinely know, love, and follow Jesus.
And perhaps, by God’s grace, the legacy will continue from generation to generation.
This article was adapted from the teaching and writing of Dr. Dave Currie, founder of Doing Family Right. We are grateful for Dr. Dave’s many years of leadership and his continued commitment to strengthening marriages and families through practical, biblically grounded wisdom.
