How to Give Your Kids “Sticky Faith”

It’s never too early

The Bible promises us that if we raise up our children in the way they should go, when they are grown, they will not depart from it. However, so many things entice our teens away from their faith these days. National studies have shown that 40-50 percent of church-going teenagers abandon their faith once they go to college. Author Dr. Kara Powell says this doesn’t have to be. In her book Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids, she and the team at the Fuller Youth Institute encourage parents to take practical steps to instill "Sticky Faith” in their children – convictions that will last a lifetime.

Faith development is a lifelong process for all of us. It is never too late to be more strategic in our parenting. Because kids’ faith trajectories are formed long before twelfth grade, it’s never too early to start being more focused in the way we model and share our faith with our family.

Create a rescue plan

Youth group graduates tend to equate their faith to a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” – to a list of behaviors. Tragically, when students with this behavioralist view of their faith fail, their feelings of guilt cause them to run from their faith and the church, just when they need them the most. In contrast, a “sticky faith” is one in which students know that their faith is bigger than any mistake or moral failure. As young people head off to new campuses, jobs, or the military, ahead of time help them identify specific friends and family members they can talk to when they face tough new moral dilemmas and struggles.

Photo by Kaktuslampan