Being faithful in the little things

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." Luke 16:10

I've been meditating on this verse recently, and asking the Lord to help me to be faithful in the little things.

Many times I feel as if I'm not really "doing" much for the Lord and at those times I have to remind myself that raising children up in the nurture and instruction of the Lord is a huge ministry in itself.

Often it doesn't really feel like a ministry when I'm changing diapers and wiping runny noses. But there are those moments when I realize that ministry doesn't always have to be in a church setting or on the mission field. Rather, ministry should begin in the home. Dan and I have seen the desperate need for this in youth ministry. We knew that we could only do so much in terms of ministering to our youth kids, but how we longed for the parents to embrace their roles as the primary ministers to their children. Parents have far greater impact and far more time to train their children in righteousness at home but we see them giving up that role to youth pastors instead. By then is too late in the game and much harder to reach a heart that is becoming hardened to the ways of the Lord.

I'm reminded of the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

I claim this a promise from the Lord, because one of the greatest fears that I have as a mother is that my children would turn from the Lord.

That is why being faithful in the little things right here and right now are so vital.

Many times I thought to myself- how can they understand at this age the importance of prayer, or that we must worship Jesus and Him alone. I think it is a very crafty lie of the enemy that children are too young to understand those things so lets just not even bother teaching them till they're a little older.

But I'm seeing that they do understand even at the youngest age. Even if they don't fully grasp the meaning behind singing a worship song, they hear mommy and daddy singing it and they try to sing along. Even Lydia at this age, when we have times of family worship, will join in by clapping her hands and bobbing her cute little head.

Those moments bring such joy to my heart, how much more our Heavenly Father's heart!

I recently listened to a message from a leader at IHOP who said that as Parents the most important thing that we can do for our children is to establish a culture of prayer and worship. Teaching our children to talk and sing to the Lord.

Not only is this preparing them to embrace Christ as their Savior but it is preparing them for His coming.

I remember when we started saying our bed time prayers with Abigail. First it would start off mommy or daddy saying them. Of course at this age you can't be longwinded and use eloquent words they can't understand. But simple prayers like "God, please be with so and so and help them feel better etc."

Eventually We would start the prayers and Abigail would fill in the blanks. Now she is starting to pray on her own.

I'm reminded of this scripture which has been helping to put things in perspective for me.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

⁴ “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ⁹You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

According to this passage we must be using every opportunity to teach our children the words of the Lord.

I'm still learning what it means to incorporate the Word of the Lord in everyday activities. I do have times when I teach Abigail Bible stories but I feel that I need to bring out the lessons learned in those stories in real life situations. God is teaching me.

I know that it is important to help her learn to love and worship the Lord, this is a big responsibility especially because it requires me to first love and worship the Lord before I can impart it to my daughters. I'm sure one of the biggest reasons for children who grow up and rebel against their parents is hypocrisy. I can tell my children to act a certain way but if I don't live it myself what are they learning, but to be good liars.

This is a huge challenge to me and why I know that before we can do any type of ministry whether in or outside the home we must first develop an intimate relationship with the Lord ourselves.

What was it that Israel was commanded to teach their children at all times?

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

If we are not loving God with all that we are, how can we expect our children to?

It's not just training our children to be well-behaved. We have to target the heart, and we want their hearts to be turned to the Lord. It's vitally important that in order to train up our children in the way they should go, we must guard our personal time with the Lord and continually seek to know Him more and more.

We can get so caught up in raising our kids that we can easily let our own heart drift away from the Lord, praying little and reading the word even less. Certainly we might have a good excuse at times. But let's be intentional to keep that time with Him sacred for that is one of the best things we can do for our children.

This is a standard that I readily admit am not upholding a hundred percent. But i'm striving to uphold it, for my Lord and for my children.

The greatest thing that I can do for them is prepare the soil of their hearts to embrace their Savior Jesus Christ and dedicate their lives to Him.

Ok Mommies! I know you have some great practical ideas of how to incorporate worship and prayer and the Word into your everyday routine with the kids. Please share with me!!