How to Teach Timeless Values to Your Children

One of the most important responsibilities you have as a parent is passing your faith and values on to your children.

It may also be one of the most challenging tasks before you. And there’s a reason why.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, both the U.S. men’s and women’s 4 x 100 relay teams were expected to compete for the gold medal. Instead, in a shocking turn of events, neither team even made it to the finals.

But their exit from competition wasn’t because another country outran them. No, both American teams went out early after they dropped the baton during an exchange.

That’s an important lesson for parents. You see, runners almost never drop the baton during the middle of their relay leg when the race is in full sprint. It’s when they’re handing off the baton to a teammate that things can easily fall apart.

The exchange is where things can often go wrong for parents as well. If we aren’t intentional about passing on our beliefs, our children’s values will be shaped primarily by their friends, social media, or the entertainment industry.

That’s not where we want our kids learning what’s important, which is why we have to be purposeful about teaching them our values and helping them develop a solid foundation for the rest of their future.

Our two-day program with author Courtney DeFeo is designed to help you with exactly that. DeFeo shares a wealth of practical and fun ideas to help parents teach their children about timeless virtues such as love, gratitude, forgiveness, respect, perseverance, service, and humility.

A lot of parents contact us here at Focus seeking ideas for instilling these beliefs in their children. Many of these moms and dads have tried it all – from nightly devotions to reading Bible stories at bedtime. You’ve probably had varying degrees of success with similar ideas yourself.

Our conversation with Courtney covers specific activities you can organize along with everyday circumstances you can tap into that will help your children experience the virtues you’re hoping they’ll learn. As you’ll hear, there’s a difference between giving your kids a mini-lecture about why they need to be generous Christians and creating opportunities for them to encounter in a real way what it looks and feels like to be generous.

If you missed the first day of our program “Making Virtues a Daily Part of Your Family Life,” you can listen anytime online or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app. Part two can be heard on your local radio station or on our website.