Growing Up Christian #6: More than Mimicking Mom and Dad

Chapter 6 of Growing Up Christian is about the tendency of church kids to just assume what they have been taught without developing personal Biblical convictions of their own.

The statistics are staggering:
-41 percent of church kids wrongly believe that the devil is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.
-45 percent wrongly believe that all religious faiths teach equally valid truths.
-52 percent wrongly believe that Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and all other people pray to the same god, even though they use different names for that god.
-52 percent wrongly believe that if a person is generally good they will earn a place in heaven.
-58 percent wrongly believe that Jesus committed sins while he was on earth.

Graustein’s main point is that if our convictions are based solely on our parent’s experiences, they will not hold up in times of temptation. We will live life for the glory of God when we have and hold our own Biblical convictions.

The application of this point is obvious:
1. Love and study the Word of God.
2. Pray that your love for God will increase.
3. Put yourself in positions in which God can work in your heart and mind.

Then,
1. Study the lives of godly adults around you.
2. Go to the Word of God.
3. Apply the truth of the Word.
4. Pray.

Once again, this chapter could have been danger #5: the danger of mimicking our parent’s convictions.