“The highest privilege and purpose as a parent is to lead the child in the way of Christ.” – Max Lucado.
El privilegio de ser padres también conlleva una gran responsabilidad. Para los padres cristianos, la mayor de todas las responsabilidades es la de formar a sus hijos en los caminos del Señor. Aunque existen muchos recursos para guiar a los niños en la oración y en el estudio de historias de la Biblia, los padres a menudo se sienten mal equipados para guiar a sus hijos en la adoración en el hogar.
Tradicionalmente, la adoración se concibe como una experiencia emocional y espiritual que tiene lugar mientras se interpreta música o se canta. Aunque ésta es una parte importante de la adoración, es sólo una de sus expresiones. La definición de adoración es en realidad una expresión de reverencia, veneración o devoción, lo que significa que la adoración es una postura del corazón (un sustantivo), más que un acto que se realiza (un verbo).
Comprender esta definición abre numerosas posibilidades para participar en la adoración a Dios. Para ayudar a los padres a buscar intencionalmente modos de cultivar la adoración en la vida de sus hijos, presentamos algunas sugerencias para empezar:
- Be a Worshipper (Proverbs 22:6)—Kids copy what they see, especially from their parents. If parents want their children to be worshippers, they must consistently model this behavior for them. They must allow their children to see them spending time in Scripture, singing songs of praise to the Lord, and crying out to Him in prayer. Throughout the week, parents should let children see them participating in things that bless others and bring honor and glory to God. Remember, as the primary influencer in a child’s life, parents must be diligent to stay strong in their own faith if they want to successfully pass it down to their children.
- Encourage Children to Explore Their Gifts/Talents (1 Peter 4:10)—At its core, worship is an expression of love and adoration to the Lord for His goodness. Out of that goodness, the Lord gives each person unique abilities to live out the life He has prepared for them. Helping a child discover his/her God-given gifts and talents and expressing themselves to Him through those gifts and talents is a great way to get children into the habit of living a life in constant worship.
- Establish a Time for Family Devotions (Proverbs 22:6)—Family devotions can look as different as the families that engage in them. For some families, mornings will work best, and for others, bedtime may be the most convenient. Some families may choose to read from a devotional and pray together. Others may choose to sing songs, spend time in conversation about Scripture, or even listen to an audio recording of the Bible together. Neither the time of day nor the specific activities of the time together are as important as consistently meeting to worship the Lord as a family unit.
- Keep God in Your Conversations Throughout the Day (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)—Worship is an attitude of the heart. When parents discipline themselves to stay in a posture of worship throughout the day, it will naturally flow into their conversations. However, this is a hard discipline to put into practice until it becomes a habit. Parents shouldn’t feel pressured to master this overnight. They could start by pointing out small reminders of the goodness of God, such as the beauty of a sunset, an unexpected blessing while out running errands, or the fact that there is warm water and electricity that runs to the home. They could put into practice the verbalization of small prayers as the chaos and the stressors of the day present themselves, demonstrating how to trust God in all areas of life. In whatever ways work best, bringing God into the everyday moments of life cultivates a culture of worship in the home that will begin to shape the hearts and minds of children into true worshippers.
- Expose Children to Times of Intergenerational Worship (Psalm 145:4)—Because worship is such a diverse and timeless spiritual discipline, it is important to expose children to different expressions of it from those across generational lines. Allowing children to attend a worship service with their parents once every few weeks, calling grandparents to ask them to pray over them or lead them in a devotion, or taking opportunities at holidays for a quick time of worship with extended family are excellent ideas for this exposure.
However parents are most comfortable creating space for worship in their home, consistency and intentionality are the most important components. Just as Joshua boldly declared, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (Joshua 24:15), committing their efforts to the Lord and remaining steadfast in their decision to nurture a heart of worship in their children will sow seeds that will take root and blossom into beautiful lives that reflect the goodness of God to all who see them.