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I
have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your
grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now
lives in you also. 2 Timothy 1:5
Your parents’ faith is a
gift from God and is not to be taken for granted. What a rock of
reassurance you have in a legacy of love for the Lord. They stand for
the truth of God and they live it with humility and grace. It is because
of their faith that you have faith. They instilled the fear and love of
God in you early on. Their awe and respect of God inspired your soul to
do the same. Your parents’ faith has been a flame of passion lighting
the path of your own walk with Christ. You watched them pray, so you
pray; you watched them trust God, so you trust God; you watched them
love people, so you love people; you watched them forgive, so you
forgive; you watched them do the right things, so you do the right
things; you witnessed their generosity, so you are generous. Your
parents are models of faithfulness in the ways of God. What a gift! What
a reason for joy, thanksgiving, and celebration. Have you loved your parents and thanked them lately for their gift of sincere faith? Take the time to tell them how grateful you are for your upbringing in the faith. Thank them and God for your training and teaching in the great truths of the Bible all those years. Their faithful teaching and modeling of truth made it easy for you to embrace truth. Now you have the opportunity to do the same for your children. The Bible says, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). Model for your children what has been modeled for you: service, selflessness, confession and repentance of sin, faithfulness, and forgiveness. Keep the faith alive by putting to death the devil’s attempts to derail your legacy of love for the Lord. Be a legacy builder not a legacy killer.
If you have failed in your role as a parent of faith, now is the time to return to your roots. It is never too late to pick up your parental baton of faith. In your heart, you know it’s the right thing to do. You have explored the other road most traveled. That faithless road is full of sin and deception, hurt and harm. It is a passageway of pride and ego. This unrighteous road is so crowded that you learn quickly that it is filled with peril and life accidents. Now you are back on a search for your father’s faith. Your mother’s prayers have wooed you back and encouraged you to pray for your own children.
It is time to put away foolish and immature ways. Your deep desire is to imitate the sincere faith of your parents. They were smarter than you realized, so unleash the faith of your childhood that was endowed by your parents. Appreciate and accept their indoctrination of God’s wisdom and allow it to serve you well in your adult responsibilities. However, do not lament your lot in life if your parents lacked faith. Instead, apply the faith of surrogate spiritual parents. You are positioned on a faith walk for your kids, so walk wisely. Keep giving the gift of faith to your family. Sincere faith can be passed on from one generation to another. So, by God’s grace, be relentless, passionate, and disciplined to keep the faith alive.
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