Today we will continue to look at the foundations of followers of “The Way” and how being true to these foundations will bring forth a more spiritual journey and relationship with Christ. For parenting, these are the foundations I want to instill in my children through my own personal modeling as well as core development while they are growing up.
4. Intentional Spiritual Growth. Following the way means that we derive our direction in life from our relationship with God. My life changed significantly when I finally submitted to God and begin to ask God to direct my life for HIS purpose. It led to Legacy Dad and many positive changes in my personal life, marriage and family. I made it a priority to have a personal relationship with God and to not let outside influences deter this relationship.
5. Servanthood. True love is shown through acts of selfless service. Mimi Silbert, founder of the Delancey Street Foundation has changed thousands of hardened criminals into productive members of society without counseling, more prison time or special programs. One of the core behaviors she focuses on is getting these criminals to be other focused. Selfless Service and a willingness to see others succeed. If this approach works for hardened criminals’ imagine the effects it would have on our children? The Early Christian Church stressed servanthood and selfless service as a way to follow the example set by Jesus. It showed their transformation and submission to the faith. We need to focus on serving others rather than being served.
6. Resource Investment. For a long time I focused a good deal of my time on developing ways to invest my money to ultimately be wealthy and secure someday. However, since I started Legacy Dad, I realized that money does not create a true legacy. A true legacy comes from investing in relationships, people and sharing our wealth to help others. Followers of the Way look for people and relationships they can invest their time and talents into to rather than material treasures or hobbies. Also, the funny thing is, if you ever speak with someone materially wealthy, most will tell you that relationships played a big part in their material wealth and success.
7. Family Faith. The final foundation of the Early Church and Followers of the Way place family faith as one of the most important tasks in their lives. This is the whole reason for Legacy Dad. Parents much teach and model their faith and positive behaviors everyday. The church, while a good tool, will not raise our children into spiritual champions. The home must be a place of God, teachings, and worship. In the Early Christian Movement, the home was the only place of worship.
I believe that following these 7 Foundations will bring us, as Christians, back to the beginnings of True Christianity. I must also stress that those that strive to follow these seven foundations are not always seen by those involved in the church as the best examples of Christianity. However, being true to these seven foundations is what Jesus called the “fruit.” Jesus said to look not at the amount of religious information, verses or how many times we attended worship but at how we integrate his teachings into our everyday life. This is the true fruit of a relationship with Christ.
I often say that I don’t care how people act at church or when they are in the view of other Christians but how do they act when no one can see them. How do they act when they will receive no recognition or praise for following their beliefs? This is the true test for us as well as our children.
In the final few posts of Christianity 2009, we will look at how to change our current worldview of our faith if we have strayed from the path and more importantly how our children and the younger generations can be a huge catalyst for living their lives more on purpose and changing the current view of Christianity.