Parents play a vital role in helping shape the faith of their children and giving them the necessary freedom to pursue and explore what their faith means to them. With a wide variety of different resources available, there’s never a better time to start encouraging your children to grow in their knowledge and relationship with God than now. Check out these 9 ways to encourage your children in their faith journeys today.

Pray for and with your kids, and when possible give them a chance to pray too. Avoid a staunch timetable where possible and simply lead and encourage your children to pray when they feel it necessary.
Read them an age-appropriate Bible. Online resources and apps provide great bible readings aimed toward a younger audience for engaging, interactive learning experiences.

Listen to faith-based music the whole family can enjoy. Places like youtube have a wide variety of great faith music and it can be an excellent way to introduce your child to faith principles as well as hymns and Sunday school songs.

Talk to your child about your family celebrations and encourage them to take part in family and child-friendly activities.

Give your child your time and attention; listen to their hopes and dreams. Spending time with your child helps to shape their attitudes and perspectives around faith and family.

Share with your child who your favorite saint is and why. Saints and religious figures can be great for explaining your faith to young people as they are often beacons of hope and moral teachings. Talk to your child about what the saint represents to you and what their story meant to your faith.

Encourage your children to think for themselves about faith. While it’s valid to communicate your own opinions about spiritual matters, it’s important to let your kids have the freedom to think critically about what they believe and arrive at their own conclusions. Allowing your children to shape their own personal beliefs is essential to making beliefs that last a lifetime and being too hands-on with their religious experience can often lead to resentment and detachment, no matter how good nature your intentions may be.

Connect God to the world. Current events, natural disasters, or the beauty of nature can be great for connecting the lord to something more visible in the lives of your children. Helping our kids see the connection will grow their faith.

Talk about faith with your kids. Be completely open and honest about discussing your personal spiritual journey with your children. Addressing your own mistakes and the lessons learned from them is a great way to introduce ideas that we are not perfect but we should always strive to be.

Faith is a constant in our lives and it can be difficult to pass on those traditions and principles without overwhelming or confusing our children. Being open, honest and receptive goes a long way in shaping the faith of your children as well as including them in family events and prayer. Lead by example and allow your children to grow alongside you.