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Writer's pictureHaley V. Craft
2 min read

Ministry as a Family Affair: Raising Your Children with a Ministry Focus

Ministry is just code for serving and caring for people.

 

I was a pastor’s kid. My dad was a music minister and my mama sang in the choir, but the heart for ministry didn’t stop with my parents. My brother and I are grown now, and watching our parents serve the church as children has left its mark. My brother is a youth minister, and I’ve been ministering as a teacher for almost ten years.


According to 1 Peter 4:10, we’re all to be involved in ministry. For most of my family, the term ministry meant serving in the local church, but you don’t have to quit your job and become a pastor to help your children grow to appreciate and desire ministry opportunities because ministry is just code for serving and caring for people.


Here are a few ways my parents helped me and my brother learn to love loving people:


  1. Talk about why we should minister to people.


    We are all born with a natural focus on ourselves. For a love of ministry to grow, we have to explain why caring for people is good. On long Sunday afternoons when my whole family was at church until after evening service, there were times when my parents had to teach us why this sacrifice pleased God, and they didn’t shy away from these conversations.


  2. Let them see you serve others.


    Even more than hearing our words, it’s important for children to see an example they can imitate. My brother and I saw my parents serve on Sundays, but we also saw them mentor young people who were struggling, help our neighbors through struggles, and minister to the homeless.


  3. Let them join in, and as they grow, give them more ownership and responsibility in the family’s ministry.


    No one can learn without practice. Any time we showed interest in a ministry opportunity, my parents supported us, and as we got older, they let us start taking the lead on small projects. This allowed us to feel the joy of pleasing God and helping others for ourselves and encouraged us to seek out other ways to love people like Jesus.


    Remember, ministry is a family affair.

 

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