A legacy of faith

What are you doing to impact your family? This question may feel manipulative, but that is not my intention. My goal is to encourage each parent and grandparent to consider how to share their priorities with their children and grandchildren.

Many of us want to influence our descendants. According to a May 10, 2023, Pew Research Center report, 35% of U.S. parents said passing their religious values to their children was either extremely or very important. The study reported that even more people believe it is their responsibility to pass along core values like “being honest and ethical, hardworking and ambitious.”

I wish more people viewed encouraging their children to follow the faith as one of their highest priorities but am pleased that over one-third of parents say it is very important. I am also happy that even more parents are committed to sharing values they believe will help children be productive members of society.

The real question is, how do we do both with our children; sharing our faith and helping them become good citizens? Something Moses wrote long ago offers a glimpse into how we can accomplish these, “…commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8, NLT)

Based on this passage the Jews created phylacteries, small boxes worn on the arm or forehead that contained a written portion of God’s law. While technically, they were doing what God told them to do, they were missing Moses’ point that we are to be intentional about talking and discussing what is important to us with our descendants. Every parent or grandparent may do this differently, but Moses encourages all of us to do it intentionally.

I was challenged and encouraged when I learned how one father does this with his children. Jenna Bush Hager, the host of NBC’s, “Today with Jenna & Friends,” shared this inspirational personal experience, “I actually wake up every morning to a text from my dad that’s a different Bible verse… I wasn’t included at the beginning. It started when my sister had a bad break-up, and my dad started texting her every morning. It was something really small but something very steady…”

To leave a legacy of faith we must actively and consistently engage with our children and grandchildren. It may involve an actual walk with them where we intentionally discuss our faith, or it could mean we send a daily text message containing scripture. Regardless of how you go about it, please take the time to let your family know what’s important to you for it benefits both you and them and can make an eternal difference.