Sincere Faith (4)

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Eph 6:1 (NIV)

Are your parents still alive? Have you inherited their faith? Maybe they modeled sincere faith before you consistently or maybe they did not make those kinds of deposits in your life. It could be that one of your parents faithfully handed down the faith while the other parent failed to maximize that opportunity.
As children, we are to obey our parents. God has given them the responsibility to model His love and His character before us. God has given them the privilege of knowing Him personally and making Him known relationally.

As children, we have the privilege of inheriting the faith. Our responsibility is to pay attention, listen, and obey. We don’t get to heaven by living vicariously through the faith of our parents. We must have a personal experience with God by confessing our sin and trusting in Jesus alone for salvation. Yet, the faith of our parents can be inherited as they model their sincere faith before us.

Assess your upbringing. What was your home life like? What part did faith play in your upbringing? Did you grow up in a home where Christ was honored and faith was a natural part of everyday life? Or, were you reared in an environment where sincere faith was invisible?

The good news is that you can learn from the deposits your parents made in your life. You can benefit from the presence of sincere faith or from the absence of sincere faith. You can choose to replicate in your life now the faith they demonstrated back then. Or you can choose to elevate a sincere faith that was absent in your upbringing. God can take you to a new level! Stay close to Him!

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor