What do you want to pass on to your kids? Maybe you want to teach your kids how to fish, how to throw a baseball, or how to be hard workers. Those are all good lessons, but God commands us to pass on to the next generation how to pursue him.
Pass on God’s truth from generation to generation
God cares about young people. But how are they supposed to hear about God’s love for them? It happens through us. God uses us to reach the next generation.
Psalm 78:4-6 We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children.
This psalm teaches us a wonderful pattern for generations coming to know God. We teach our kids to pursue God. We help our kids have a relationship with him. They teach their kids about God. And then our grandkids teach our great grandkids. And all of this can happen when you get in the game and help a younger person pursue God.
Everyone can help the next generation
Maybe you don’t have kids or your kids are all grown up. You can still help the next generation. There are many young people in your community who don’t know God. Pray for them. Mentor them. God can use you to reach the next generation.
Look at what God says to all Christians whether you have children or not:
Titus 2:4-7 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure…In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind.
Every Christian man and woman has a responsibility to be a model and a mentor for someone younger. Get in the game of helping the next generation pursue God.
Teach the next generation to trust in God
As a Christian our hope is in God. This means that we have confidence that God will fulfill his promises. He will save us and give us eternal life. We need to pass on this hope and confidence to the next generation. We need to teach younger people about what God has done in our lives and why we trust him.
Psalm 78:7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles
Model obedience to God for the next generation
Of course, we don’t want our kids to stop at trusting in God. We want them to obey him. And this is also the path of Christian maturity. We trust Jesus for salvation, and we also live to honor him.
Psalm 78:7-8 …and obeying his commands. Then they will not be like their ancestors—stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
If we fail to teach the next generation to obey God, they will fall away from him. We don’t want them to just say they believe in God, we really want them to follow him. There is a great reward for us and our children as we help them pursue God (check out Proverbs 22:6).
We want to see the next generation have a full-circle pursuit of God. We want them to value trusting in Jesus, honoring God with their lives, and helping others pursue him. We want to help them so that they can help the generation that follows them.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- What is the most important lesson you learned from your parents?
- How have you been intentional in helping your kids pursue God?
- Why is it important to help the next generation pursue God?
- How much do you value trusting in Jesus and honoring God in your own life? Give some examples.
- How can you model obedience to God for your children?
- How much influence do we have on the next generation at our church? Explain your answer.
- Who is someone from the next generation that you can mentor? If you don’t know anyone, where can you get involved in your church to help the next generation?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
