An Intentional Faith by Allen JacksonSample

When you’ve lived into the life God rewards, when you’ve experienced the fruit of those rewards in your own life, it’s natural to want to pass that faith down to the next generation. You’ll want your children, stepchildren, grandchildren, or those younger people in your community to experience the same kind of life outcomes you’ve experienced. Desires aside, though, teaching the younger generations to honor God and his commands is a biblical mandate.

Consider the story of Moses. After leading the great exodus of Israel from Egypt, after receiving the Ten Commandments from God on the mountain, he led the people on a journey to the land promised to them by God. And standing on the edge of that land, just before he passed the mantle of leadership to his protégé, Joshua, he reminded the people—the younger generation—of the law given by God. . . .

Jesus had a heart for the younger generation too. In the book of Matthew, the disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom. Instead of giving the answer they expected, he called a child to his lap. Pointing to the child, he said the children were the most important people in the kingdom of God. . . . If we don’t teach the younger generations how to honor God, aren’t we leaving them to their own devices? Aren’t we leaving them unprotected in the struggle with life’s challenges? It’s a sobering thought, one that moves me from theoretical into action.

For the record, it’s worth noting that the child on Jesus’ lap wasn’t his own. . . . I believe Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that they shared a responsibility to all the little ones, to all the younger generation. Thus, though passing the faith to the next generation is a primary assignment for the parents, it’s not limited to parents. We all have a stake in the faith development of the next generation. After all, when we’re long gone, they’ll be the Christian leaders. We should equip them to impact the generations that follow them with a meaningful faith!