Courtney Burkholder

I grew up in a small Texas town deep in the heart of the Bible Belt, so going to church was as much a part of my life as going to school.

Whenever those church doors opened, my family was there, as dependable as the passing of the offering plate.

Sunday morning was reserved for Sunday school and church service, Sunday night for youth group and choir practice, and Wednesday night for more choir practice, pot-luck dinner, and the mid-week Bible study. I attended lock-ins with my youth group, went on mission trips and choir tours, and attended church camp each summer.

Going to church and church activities cultivated my spiritual life and helped to mold me into the person I am today.

My parents also taught me the importance of Christianity in my day-to-day life. We prayed together, read the Bible together, and gave thanks before meals. God was always at the center of our lives. My spiritual life helped to instill in me strong ethics and values, a sound moral code, and an innate understanding of right and wrong.

Looking at my own children’s lives, it seems that we rarely have time to do all the church-related activities I remember from my youth. Between sports, school functions, tutoring and homework, the week slips by too quickly for a mid-week choir practice. Even Sundays are no longer reserved for attending church, but rather, Sunday has become family day: a day to spend together as a family, and it may or may not include a trip to our church.

But how important is spirituality in the life of your child, and why should we make it a priority?

Mimi: If you don’t make going to church a priority, it will slip away, and before you know it, you will have problems. When you are regular in your service to the Lord, and Christ is central in your life, your children will learn to love the Lord and their fellow man. And this is a happy way of life. If you set an example for them when they are small, they will learn the importance of pleasing their heavenly Father instead of the world.

Mom: The habits we form when we are very young are most often the things that will stay with us through adulthood. Understanding that you have a heavenly Father that you can look to for all the things in your life, teaches a child that they have a friend in all situations. It’s important for a child to have the healthy basics of spirituality to keep them grounded in reality. A happy part of a child’s identity is wrapped up in their spiritual training. Having a strong foundation in your faith gives a child a security in who they are that nothing else can give them.

Me: Your spiritual life is what nurtures your heart and soul. In today’s world, when there is so much focus on external beauty, it’s so important to train our children in what really matters in life, and that is the person they are on the inside. Going to church and attending church activities not only allows them to learn about their religion, but also lets them commune with other children with similar beliefs. It teaches them the importance of always striving to better themselves on the inside. It teaches them to love one another, treat others as they would like to be treated, the importance of forgiveness, and that they are deeply loved.

There is a verse in Proverbs that says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart form it.” What better gift can we give our children than that?