Much has been written about how parents can help lead their children to Christ, but have you ever thought about what role you, a grandparent, can play in leading your grandchildren to Christ? One visitor to the website, Retirement with a Purpose recently shared her own experience in this area:
"I must tell you that after reading the Journey of Joy to my five grandsons, they each asked Jesus to be Lord of their life. We read aloud the sinners prayer and invited Jesus to take over their lives. This was after much discussion and a lot of questions to which they needed answer. … Your site was an instrument used to save souls of five young men from ages 10–16. We hope you don't mind that we printed out copies of the journey for each boy for reference." Leading her grandsons to Christ must have been a tremendous experience for this grandmother, as you can imagine. And there's no reason why you can't have this same experience too. You may not actually get to be there when your grandchildren make the decision (although you may), but you can definitely play a key role at every stage along the way. Here are some ideas:
Get down on your knees
If you want to become a tool in the hands of God, the first thing you need to do is get down on your knees and pray. Intercede on behalf of your grandchildren. Ask God to provide you with opportunities to share the gospel with them or to be a Christian role model. The key is to let God know you're available and then to keep an eye out for the opportunities He opens up.
Be a positive role model
After prayer, one of the surest ways to get your grandchildren interested in the gospel is to begin living it out yourself. This means more than simply going to church. It means modeling the character of Christ in through your love, encouragement and wisdom. If you live out your faith, over time, your grandchildren will come to see that something is different about your life. And you can count on their inquisitive young minds to begin asking what it is.
Talk about your faith
Don't be shy about your Christian faith, but don't be pushy about it either. Look for opportunities to draw conversations with your grandchildren back to God. For example, if you're out on a nature hike with your grandkids, use the splendour of creation to direct their attention back to the One who made it all - God. Children are looking for this sort of spiritual guidance; so don't be afraid to give it to them.
Provide your grandchildren with Christian resources
Many excellent Christian resources exist today that help communicate the gospel to children, including books, CDs, games and videos. Why not give some of these resources to your grandchildren as Christmas presents, birthday gifts or as a "just because" present? Of course, you'll want to check with their parents first to make sure the resource is appropriate for the child and that they don't already own it.
Be available
There's nothing like being there. With so many dual-income families these days, parents often don't have as much time as they'd like to spend with their children. This is where you can step in and help fill the gap:
• Offer to babysit your grandchildren while their parents are at work.
• Commit to being your grandchildren's number one fan and show up at all of their sporting events.
• Offer to help drive them around to their various activities after school. (This is a great opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with your grandchildren.).
• Volunteer to be a sponsor at your granchildren's youth group or to teach your grandchildren's Sunday school class.
• Do anything you can think of to create opportunities to spend more time with your grandchildren.
You never know when such opportunities will turn into impromptu occasions to share the Gospel with your grandchildren. Shared experiences like this also create a bond between you and your grandchildren that will make them much more receptive to the Gospel when you do share it.
"I must tell you that after reading the Journey of Joy to my five grandsons, they each asked Jesus to be Lord of their life. We read aloud the sinners prayer and invited Jesus to take over their lives. This was after much discussion and a lot of questions to which they needed answer. … Your site was an instrument used to save souls of five young men from ages 10–16. We hope you don't mind that we printed out copies of the journey for each boy for reference." Leading her grandsons to Christ must have been a tremendous experience for this grandmother, as you can imagine. And there's no reason why you can't have this same experience too. You may not actually get to be there when your grandchildren make the decision (although you may), but you can definitely play a key role at every stage along the way. Here are some ideas:
Get down on your knees
If you want to become a tool in the hands of God, the first thing you need to do is get down on your knees and pray. Intercede on behalf of your grandchildren. Ask God to provide you with opportunities to share the gospel with them or to be a Christian role model. The key is to let God know you're available and then to keep an eye out for the opportunities He opens up.
Be a positive role model
After prayer, one of the surest ways to get your grandchildren interested in the gospel is to begin living it out yourself. This means more than simply going to church. It means modeling the character of Christ in through your love, encouragement and wisdom. If you live out your faith, over time, your grandchildren will come to see that something is different about your life. And you can count on their inquisitive young minds to begin asking what it is.
Talk about your faith
Don't be shy about your Christian faith, but don't be pushy about it either. Look for opportunities to draw conversations with your grandchildren back to God. For example, if you're out on a nature hike with your grandkids, use the splendour of creation to direct their attention back to the One who made it all - God. Children are looking for this sort of spiritual guidance; so don't be afraid to give it to them.
Provide your grandchildren with Christian resources
Many excellent Christian resources exist today that help communicate the gospel to children, including books, CDs, games and videos. Why not give some of these resources to your grandchildren as Christmas presents, birthday gifts or as a "just because" present? Of course, you'll want to check with their parents first to make sure the resource is appropriate for the child and that they don't already own it.
Be available
There's nothing like being there. With so many dual-income families these days, parents often don't have as much time as they'd like to spend with their children. This is where you can step in and help fill the gap:
• Offer to babysit your grandchildren while their parents are at work.
• Commit to being your grandchildren's number one fan and show up at all of their sporting events.
• Offer to help drive them around to their various activities after school. (This is a great opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with your grandchildren.).
• Volunteer to be a sponsor at your granchildren's youth group or to teach your grandchildren's Sunday school class.
• Do anything you can think of to create opportunities to spend more time with your grandchildren.
You never know when such opportunities will turn into impromptu occasions to share the Gospel with your grandchildren. Shared experiences like this also create a bond between you and your grandchildren that will make them much more receptive to the Gospel when you do share it.
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