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WHY SHELTERING OUR KIDS IS CAUSING MORE HARM THAN GOOD
Kris Vallotton
January 8, 2018
Do you shelter your kids from real-life challenges you may be facing? I think this is a natural instinct, since one of our calls as parents is to protect our children. However, when we shelter our kids too much, we’re not really setting them up for success in the world. When we hide the realities of life from them, we also hide the reality of a powerful God who wants to encounter them in every situation. I’m concerned that the church has stepped over the line of parental protection into a place of overprotection, and therefore even sheltered our kids from a supernatural God!
Let’s take a deeper look with today’s Monday Motivation video:
In a nutshell:
• They grew up in a house of heroes where they knew and anticipated and expected a God of the impossible.
• What would happen if we stopped worrying about what the world is going to do to our kids, and rather taught our children how to move in wonders, signs and miracles, and raised up a generation who know the God of the impossible?
• I don’t want my grandchildren to only hear about miracles, but I want them to have their own testimonies.
• I took my kids to Heidi Baker’s ministry in the bush in Mozambique, and she was casting out demons and healing the deaf. The girls weren’t shocked because it was what we’d been teaching them. However, now they had their own testimonies to share!
• We’re so concerned with post-traumatic stress that we don’t give them anything dramatic.
• When we isolate our kids they miss out on the “test” of the “testimony”.
• We need to expose our kids to problems so that they know there’s a God of miracles.
• Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
• I propose this is the way they ought to go-—with a knowledge of their call to ministry ever since they were saved, and taught by their family to cast out demons, heal the sick, interpret dreams, etc. Imagine if they could grow up with an awareness that the God who transcends the laws of physics will show up in their lives.
ACTIVATION FOR THE WEEK
I know that many of you reading this may have tons of questions about the “how” on raising your kids in a supernatural home, and I want to tell you that’s totally okay. This week, let’s start with a powerful yet doable step—telling your kids about the God of the impossible. Start with a few testimonies of seeing Him show up in ways that transcend the laws of physics. What miracles can you recall that you can tell your children about? Then invite them in to pray with you for a miracle your family might need. I bet you’ll see their faith begin to move mountains!
Let’s be the kind of families who set the tone for God (instead of the world) to be the defining factor in our kids’ lives, where miracles become a part of our daily happenings, and the supernatural becomes our natural mode of operation! Imagine the way that society will begin to change because of our children, instead of the other way around! How do you plan to incorporate more of a supernatural lifestyle
in your own home? Do you have any testimonies on this subject you could share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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