Developing a Teen's Love to Serve

Forever thankful for the sacrifice our Lord, Jesus Christ, gave for us so that we might be receive the free gift of salvation & be alive in Him on this Earth to share His message to people everywhere. It has been such a joy & treasured event in my life to watch my young teenage son grow in his walk with Jesus. There are many steps that can be taken, as parents, to share our passion to serve the Lord with gladness before the eyes of our children. The job of molding & shaping their hearts with the right ingredients of love, faith, trust, hope, purity, kindness, & obedience to God & His Word can be a tricky one. God does give us His Holy Word as our handbook to daily living for not only teens & children, but for all ages & circumstances in life. My son, thankfully, has always had a fire to learn about new things & a great love for reading. Reading the Bible & learning more about God's ways & what He intends for my son's future is no different. My son has been reading a variety of Bible concordances & devotional books as well as learning to try different translations of the Bible to see if it understands it better. His thirst for knowing more about Christ & trying to find new ways to be trained in the Scriptures & in serving the Lord has been fun to observe. He currently has been enjoying a Leader In Training (LIT) program through AWANAS where he is able to help work with the elementary age students part of the time while working through an intense Bible Study for his age during the rest of the time. He is mentored by a trusted friend & leader at our church. Worshipping God through songs & hymns & spiritual songs as the Bible recommends, is one of my son's very favorite pastimes. He loves going to sing with youth choir, or spending time making up songs on his keyboard. Music has really inspired & strengthened my son's faith in many ways. It's one of many outlets he uses to express his creativity & to let God know how much he truly loves Him.
Developing a teen's love for serving is partly getting to be their cheer leader & observing what they do best. Sharing with them about how good they are in a particular hobby or talent, & then encouraging them to find ways to use it for the Lord's purposes in the church or community is an important part of parenting the Christian child or teen. Other avenues we've discovered that actually bring both of us extreme pleasure, is our chance to share our hearts with the world in drawing, poetry or by writing devotionals about how God has blessed our lives time & again. We started a website for Christian homeschooling families together where he can be creative & write about things he's researched, things he enjoys as a hobby such as sharing his artwork, or just writing something on whatever he is passionate about at the time. My son and I also have a natural passion to invite people into our home for Christian fellowship. My son has become a witness to several students his age, & really impressed me this past week by not only inviting his friend & neighbor to a Christian Bible Card game tournament we hold at our home once a month called Redemption, but he also invited a young man from the church youth group who we had never had the chance to meet before. This precious child of God was so excited to spend fellowship with all of us that day & to meet other Christian young men his age, it came across as sheer delight in the Lord. How marvelous to observe! It is a big deal to your teen to hear you say that you "noticed" when they did something well or boldly took a step of faith & shared with someone about God. We try to applaud our son when he is courageous enough to step out & share his love for God & invite his friends to Chrisitan events. This helps reassure your teen that its ok to be excited for Jesus!
We are truly thankful for all the gifts God has given us, & find that the more opportunities God presents for us to serve Him in our community, the more hungry we are for His Word to be prepared for the task at hand. May God be glorified in all that He does in FL & across the country in the lives of His people. We are overjoyed to be a part of His plan to share His love to others & especially happy to watch our son grow in his desire to be used by the Lord to reach others for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Is having the opportunity to watch your child or teen growing in their walk with Jesus important to you too? Believe me my friends, seek out opportunities to enrich this desire in your child & you will not be disappointed with the outcome. God's hand is moving in the hearts of His people & the world shall be impacted greatly by our sons & daughters if we take the time to cultivate their love for Jesus. May our children develop a thirst for sharing the Gospel to the people in their circle of life. Next step...mission trip!