How to Pass on Our Faith - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, November 17th. What legacy will you leave for your children when you're no longer here? The true riches we bestow upon them should find their foundation in our faith in God. Join us now as we conclude our series on how to pass on our faith. The most valuable things we possess are not those things that we can touch with our hands.

It is not wealth and stocks and bonds and property and all the rest. The most valuable thing we have to pass on is our faith. If you are a believer, you certainly have faith in God or you could not be a believer. But do you have a faith that's worth living by, worth dying by?

You say, well, yes, I do. Then how do we pass this on? We certainly cannot believe for our children. We can't believe for our friends or our family. They have to believe for themselves. Then what do you mean passing on your faith? I simply mean this, passing on to our children, our grandchildren, to those friends around us, passing on to them in several ways our faith. That is why we believe what we believe and what we believe.

That is how we relate to God. So how would we do that? Well, here's the first way.

You pass it on this way. By sharing, listen, by sharing with your children or your grandchildren those principles that you have learned in life. For example, one of those principles that they certainly need to understand is that God will provide their needs. He can be trusted to do that. And you see, the issue here is trust, trust, trust. You can trust him with your finances. You can trust him with direction for your life.

You can trust him for your needs because he says in Philippians 4 19 that he will supply all of our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And you also want to pass on that principle that no matter what you have faced in life, as you place your trust in the Lord, he will enable you, he will strengthen you by the Holy Spirit who lives within you to be able to accomplish any task that God calls you to. So any issue, whether it's in your schooling, whether it's in your occupation, your vocation, whatever you're calling in life, here's the principle. The principle, son, is this God will enable you to do and do well everything he calls you to do.

If you place your trust in him and be diligent at whatever he calls you to do. And so you and I could just go down the principles over and over and over how many principles there are in the scriptures that you and I know that should be transferred. That is, that should be passed on. The second way we pass on our faith is this. We pass it on by the lifestyle that we live. When I see the way parents are getting in debt, what do they say? You can't trust God.

You've got to go to the bank. And what are we doing? We're sending messages by our lifestyle, by the things that we do and the things that we fail to do, the things we fail to trust God for when God is able to meet every single need. How will we ever teach our children to trust God when we're not trusting him?

We're trusting in man. We go to the bank, we borrow money, we get ourselves in debt, we're head over heels in debt, and we're in this awful bondage. Then they hear their parents talk about, we don't have this, we're in debt, we owe this, we owe that, we owe the other. You know what we're doing?

We're sending them a signal. The way you live is you get in debt, you live in bondage, and you're miserable, and you don't have any peace and no security because this is the way you live. That is not the way God intends for his children to live.

It is lifestyle. It is what they see. And this is why so often in the Scriptures you find the Old Testament. And he walked in the ways of his father and did evil in the eyes of God.

Over and over and over in the Kings, you read that. He walked in the ways of his father and did evil in the eyes of God. Or they walked in the ways of their father and were good kings. All of us are passing down and we're passing on either faith, trust in God, or we're passing on doubt and unbelief. We are passing on something. You say, I'm not passing on anything.

Yes, you are. And so what this whole generation needs, they need living examples of men and women, godly men and women, fathers and mothers who have faith. Who say, I'm trusting God no matter what. Well, how do we pass it on? We pass it on, first of all, by passing on the principles that we've learned. We pass it on likewise as a result of our own lifestyle. We pass it on by being consistent.

But we also pass it on by our participation in their life and participation in other people's lives. That is, you see, when you and I are open and transparent and we say, well, let me tell you how God worked in my life. And one of the wonderful things to be able to do as a dad or mother is to kneel down with a bedside at night with your children when they're small and say, for example, you know, I always read the different kinds of stories, but I love to tell them what was going on in my life. So let me tell you what God did in my life.

You know what? Listen, if you want something to soak into your child's mind, the last thing you do before you cut the lights out and you tell them good night, you tell them something that God has done in your life. You explain to them how God has worked in your life.

You know what happens? Gets into their mind all night during their sleep. The Spirit of God is doing what? He's building that into their very thought patterns.

And so what happens? If you will go to sleep, whatever you go to sleep with, the last thing you think of it, I'm here to tell you, the Spirit of God will take your conscious and your subconscious mind and He will work that into your being. And listen, if you're thinking evil things, dirty things, nasty things, the holy things, it's true all the way. The Spirit of God will use those good things.

The devil will use those things that are not good. And so it's good to go to bed thinking about our Lord, talking about Him and saying to your children, let me tell you what God is doing. Well, we want to pray tonight. Here's what we want to ask God for. And the next night you come back and you say, well, here's what we pray for. Look what God did. You know what you're doing? You're passing on your faith when you have to get involved.

And to do that, you've got to be transparent and say, you know what? Let me tell you how I blew it. I really messed it up this time. I should have trusted God about this, but I didn't do it. And I've asked God to forgive me and I hope you'll forgive me. You know what?

I just blew it. One thing a kid can't stand is a perfect father and a perfect mother who never make a mistake and who are never wrong. You want to ruin your kids?

You give them that kind of image and it's over. How do I know that? I know for lots of reasons, but I can tell you one. Took a survey in our college department several years ago. What was the thing that they most disliked about their parents?

Top of the list. They're never wrong. We are all wrong about some things. We all have to be open and transparent. You see, if I'm going to pass on my faith and it's going to stick. I've got to pass on my failures. If I'm going to pass on my faith, I've got to participate in their hurts, in their failures and be transparent and tell them about my failures and my hurts and the times that I may have failed God in some particular situation. Especially if it's something similar to what they're going through. Your faith is the most valuable thing you can pass on to your children, your grandchildren.

It takes time. If my grandfather said I don't have time, I could be out preaching a revival, getting people saved. I may preach a revival and many people get saved. Here's my grandson coming down here.

You're going to spend five or six days with me and all he wants me to do is talk. He passed it on to me and thank God I've been passing it on for years and years and years. And nobody would know my grandfather, George Washington Stanley.

Who is he from Salish City, North Carolina? But you know what? He gave me enough. He etched something in my mind. And God has made it possible for me to share and to pass on to others all over this world. What my granddad passed on to me in five or six simple days.

It absolutely revolutionized and set the course of my life. You know what? He took the time. If you and I are going to train our children and train our grandchildren, it takes time. Well, they always do exactly what we say. No.

Well, they always try exactly what we want them to. Not necessarily. I want to say this. When you've got a father and a mother and a family, one's godly and one's ungodly. There is a tension and a stress and there is a strife and a conflict. And oftentimes one of those children or more of those children get the worst end of the deal. Because somehow they may be drawn to the parent that's rebellious toward God.

And you know what happens? That parent does what? They pass on rebellion and unbelief and doubt in the living God and they pass on with their children. That's why mom and dad both need to be godly.

And father, if wife is not and wife, if father is not. That means you just have to be extra strong. You have to be an excellent example. You need to listen. Hang in there no matter what. Your children will profit from it. They will end up being blessed. And at least you will know you did the best you knew how to pass on godly faith to your children.

Well, it takes more than perseverance and it takes more than participation. When I think about what it takes, I think about a simple word that oftentimes we forget and that's praise. To pass on my faith, it's very important that when my children or my grandchildren or when my friends, when we have talked about something that they're going through and they trust God and God comes through for them as he does and works it out. It's time to thank God, but to also heap praise on them. You trust him. Praise God.

You trust him. Look what God did in your life. You see, there's something awesomely motivating about praise and especially in the life of a child.

Rules, regulations and legalism does not help build a child's faith. But what helps build a child's faith is praise. You see, it's a motivation where you trust him and look what he did. You did a fantastic job. I knew he was going to do it for you. God loves you. You know what happens?

What are you doing? You're motivating that child to trust him again because they're going to be disappointments. They're going to be things that they want to trust God for. That's not the will of God. And so they're going to come up and think, well, God didn't do it. Well, let's see. Did God answer your prayer? And though you didn't get what you expected and you didn't win this contest and you didn't win the game and you pray that you would.

Let's see what happened here. And then that's the time you have to get involved. And that's the time you praise them for their efforts and you laud them for their faith. And then you help them understand why God maybe allowed it to happen a different way. And you help them to understand what Romans eight twenty eight says. And that is, he's engineering all of our circumstances in a way that's for our good. And so it is no matter saying to your kids, well, you just trust the Lord. No, it is a matter of helping them to interpret those times when they are naturally going to feel disappointed.

Now, why didn't you do this? And all of us have been there, not just children, but all of us have been in those places. We've had to say, well, now, Lord, here's what I was trusting you for.

What happened? And I do believe this, that most of the time God is certainly willing to explain and to help us understand why certain things happen, why they don't happen. Not always. Some things he says he's going to reserve for the other side of life. But he's he's so willing to oftentimes tell us so much if we'll take the time to listen and ask why and search out the reason. God, what were you up to?

What are you doing? And most of the time we're going to find out, well, the Lord, Lord, here's what you did. You withheld that so you could give me something much better.

Thank you, God, for not answering my prayer. Then your faith's growing. And so there's something about that participation, something about praise. And you see what you and I don't realize is how long it goes on.

Let me give an example. Back about 80, we were challenging people to give and my daughter and her best friend that garage sale, wash cars, they did all kind of things. Well, at the same time, her friend was saving up enough money to go on a cruise and the Holy Land. And so but she felt like that God had told her to give all of that money.

And here they were making all they possibly could. But to give it all. And so she'd made up her mind as what she was going to do. And she'd let it all down, said, God, I'm going to trust you no matter what, because here's what I believe you want me to do.

This is a high school girl giving up her opportunity. Well, her parents were divorced and so she hadn't seen her father in a long time. And so she gave all of her money.

They both had put it all together and worked hard and gave it all. And so one day her father called and said, I'd like to take your lunch. Hadn't seen him in a long time.

Very distant. So he says, well, what's going on with you? And so she was telling him about all the exciting things that were happening and and that she'd given her money and so forth. And she was so excited about how the Lord was working and how it was going to work.

And she was still trusting the Lord. And this father, who is so distant, he said, well, how much is it going to cost you to take this trip? She said, well, I don't have any money left, she said, because I've given it all. But she says, but, you know, it's been fantastic to see what God's doing. He said, how much is going to cost you? And so she told him, he said, I'll take care of that.

Now, that was 18 years ago. She called me about two, three months ago. She said, Dr. Stanley told me who she was. She said, I got your telephone number from Beckin. She said, I just want to tell you what's happening in their church, another state.

They are raising money and they're getting ready to go into a billing program. And she said, I want to ask you some details. And she says, because I went to my pastor and said, well, have you ever thought about us just trusting God for this?

Now, most pastors would say, well, thank you very much and move on. But she's a very fine young lady now, a mother and a wonderful wife. And so she said, I called you to get some details. So she was asking me the details of some things that happened.

Here's what she said. I look back in my life. That experience of you encouraging us to give and to trust God and to see what he would do. She said, I can tell you that was the point in my life that I really and truly learned to trust the Lord God. And she says, of course, I've been trusting him all these years.

But how many times I've had to go back and realize that's where it began. She married a wonderful Christian man, has a wonderful family, blessed of God, lovely young lady. And what's happening? You know what she's doing? She's passing on her faith.

Who's she passing it on to? To a pastor? And so what did he do? He had her. And, you know, we're all learners up here. He had her give a testimony in the church of what God had done.

You know what she's doing? Passing on our faith. How long can you pass it on? All of your life. When do you start learning?

Early in life. When do you teach your children to trust God? Listen, you get down by the bedside with them so early in life they can't ever remember when you start praying with them. They can't ever remember when you start reading the Bible with them. You're involved with them.

You're a part of what's going on. And as a result, what happens is they can't remember when you started praying. They can't remember when you start reading the Bible. You always have.

That's the image they have of you. Godly mother and a godly father, godly grandparents. You go see your grandchildren before they go to bed night, you get down beside the bed and you pray with them. You talk to God and you say, well, I'm not a preacher. You know what?

That makes it better. You see, they may expect that from a pastor, but they don't expect that. You say, well, I'll tell you what, before you go to bed tonight, let's just get in here and talk to God. They'll probably say, well, talk to God about what? Well, let's just see.

Do you have anything you'd like to have? You always get the attention that way. Now, it may be that you'll have to answer their prayer, but that's neither here nor there.

What you're doing is you know what you're doing? You're bringing them back to God. You're bringing them back to God. Listen, any time you can bring a child into the reality of who God is and that he is trustworthy and that he loves them and that he will work in their life and meet their needs, I'm here to tell you, you're building a foundation that no amount of money, no amount of land, no amount of stocks, no amount of bonds, nothing else you can give them can match passing on your faith.

There's nothing to match that. So I want to ask you a question. What are you passing on to your children, your grandchildren?

What are you passing on to your friends? Doubt, fear, frustration, anxiety or an unshakable faith in the living God in whom you have trusted your whole future, your whole eternal destiny? Well, when you begin to praise them and laud them for the good things that they do, what happens is God begins to give them more tests and what happens?

They begin to grow. Here's the decision you have to make. Is it more important that my son or my daughter or my children learn to trust God? Is that more important or is it more important that I have their acceptance? I don't want them to feel bad about their parents.

I don't want them to feel, oh, I just doesn't love me anymore. What's the most important? They learn to trust God or that they feel like or that I feel like I have their acceptance?

Their acceptance of me is not nearly as important as their learning to trust the living God. You know who the richest kids are? The richest kids are those, the richest people are those who don't have it all. They don't have it all together. In fact, they don't have a lot of things in life.

Here's what they do have. They have an unwavering, unshakable trust in the living God. And they walk through difficulties and hardships and burdens and trials in life. And God provides their needs one at a time. He strengthens them, deepens their faith, builds a relationship, builds intimacy with Him.

Those are the fortunate, most blessed people. Listen, the truth is that keeps passing on and passing on and passing on and passing on and passing on. You think about children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren, great, great, great grandchildren whose faith has been impacted because you learn to trust the living God.

Don't cheat your children by giving them everything. Hurt, pain, suffering, sickness, sorrow, heartache, tribulation, trials, temptations. Yes, because that's what builds godly, strong faith. And, Father, we love you and praise you and thank you today for grace and love and mercy and patience and goodness and kindness toward all of us. We failed so many times.

You said we're at center bounds. Grace does much more bound. Thank you for that. We ask that the Spirit of the living God would create within us such a hunger, deep abiding hunger for you, that you will be able to test us in trials over and over and over again and that our response will be yes. We're trusting you, Father, no matter what is our prayer. In Jesus name.

Amen. Thank you for listening to part two of How to Pass On Our Faith. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.