“Raising Compelled Children not Compliant Children!”

The Story cards along with the God and Me cards are first our own experience of redemption and rescue. Father God loved us, saved us, spoke to us and won. He thinks about us, looks for us, tells us in terms that we get it, puts his arms around us, kisses us on the forehead, calls us by a new name and includes us in his family. This is the truth of the Bible! If you sift through all of those big words of systematic theology and if you read for yourself the words in the Bible, this is the story you get. And that language, the language of a story, motivates me. It draws me, and I want to respond.

Much of the spiritual formation or Christian curriculum out there fills your head and heart with the responsibility of the Christian faith. Act like this, do this, don’t do this. It then uses a Bible story to prove the point of why you should behave this way. And if we are talking about raising our children, Ron and I don’t believe that behavior modification creates a spiritual champion. If we just simply use the Bible to tell our children how they should act without first inviting them to a relationship with Father God that has loved them first and made a way for them through the life and death of his son, Jesus Christ, I think we miss a crucial part of discipleship. And I think there is no sustainable motivation for following after Father God when they leave our home. How can they follow him if they don’t know him? They may know his guidelines, but they don’t know him (Jeremiah 9:24). We have all seen through history that a belief governed by rules and regulations does not work – i.e. the Israelites. Jesus came to abolish the law and bring us to grace through a relationship not a prescription for performance. We should continue this intent with our children.

I am not abdicating a responsibility of behavior as a Christian. It is true that we are told to do things in the Bible. And I want my children to love others, serve with their whole heart, obey God, pray, care for their community, etc. I am just proposing that it comes from a relationship. Our actions are a response to his love. Ron and I want to raise compelled children not compliant children.

“For Christ’s love compels, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14

The Story cards are one of our first attempts at creating a system and a language for sharing THE truth to our children and motivating them to walk in that truth. We are grateful for each step, each question, and each experience – it has all led us to here. And we are grateful to walk with you and hear what you are discovering about the Story! And how you are sharing that Story with your children!