Ronnie Kendall | Co-Pastor, FBC Loganville
How to Raise Godly Children: Lessons from Christian Parents
Raising children is never easy, but as Christian parents, your ultimate goal is for your children to love Jesus and live out His teachings. How do you get there? The journey is full of challenges, yet with the right focus and guidance, it’s possible to shape your children into God-loving individuals.
1. Surround Yourself With Positive Influences
The first step in raising godly children is to be intentional about who your family spends time with. The influences around your children matter greatly. Make it a priority to surround your family with positive, Christ-centered people.
Even if you don’t have much extended family nearby, turn to the church community for support. Some kids don’t grow up with a lot of cousins or aunts and uncles, but in the church, you can find a whole host of role models and friends who play those roles. See the church family as a real family.
The people you hang out with, especially as parents, will inevitably impact your children. Are your friends modeling values you want your children to learn? This is why choosing the right people is essential. As a parent, you may not always be around, but the community you surround your children with can help them grow in their faith.
2. Initiate Role Models for Your Kids
As children grow, they sometimes listen more closely to others than to their own parents. This can be frustrating, but it’s also an opportunity. You can intentionally introduce role models to your kids who reinforce the lessons and values you are teaching at home.
Whether it was someone sharing with your son to do something or another mentor guiding your daughter, these people can help shape your children’s lives in ways that you alone can’t. Kids often need to hear the same message from multiple voices before it sticks. It’s not a sign that you’re failing as a parent; it’s just how children process information. By giving them positive role models to look up to, you’re reinforcing the faith-centered messages that you want them to embrace.
3. Focus On What Truly Matters
As parents, it’s easy to get caught up in the details—grades, extracurricular activities, and peer pressure. But at the end of the day, what really matters? The focus should always be on making sure our children love Jesus.
You shouldn’t care about the latest trends or whether your kids fit into societal standards. Don’t focus on your children achieving worldly success. Everything else is secondary to Him.
My wife, Telesa, and I always pray that our kids would be in the world but not of it. Always trust this Scripture: “Greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Believing that faith will shield them from the worldly influences around them.
4. Present A United Front
Raising children as a team requires unity between parents. While you may have different expectations—one parent may focus on academics, while the other emphasizes sports—what matters is finding a compromise. Presenting a united front ensures that children don’t feel torn between two different perspectives.
You will have to work through your differences, and at the end of the day, stand together. A united front gives your children a sense of security and stability. It also teaches them how to compromise and work through differences, which are valuable life lessons.
5. Spend Individual Time With Your Children
One practice that will set your family apart is spending one-on-one time with each child. Often, parents are good at spending time with all their kids together but neglect to invest in individual relationships. Make sure to spend individual time with each of your children, even if it means adjusting a busy schedule to make it happen.
Taking each child to lunch once a month may seem small, but the impact will be huge. It’s a time to connect, ask questions, and share their hearts. Building strong, individual relationships with your children helps them feel seen, heard, and valued. It also strengthens their relationship with you and provides opportunities for you to model godly behavior up close.
Building A Strong Faith Foundation
Raising godly children requires intentionality. From choosing the right influences to modeling faith through your actions, every decision you make as a parent plays a role in shaping your child’s relationship with God. Surround them with the right community, introduce them to role models, and show them through your own life what it means to follow Jesus.
Remember that your goal isn’t to raise perfect children but godly ones. Children who know and love Jesus will have a foundation that will carry them through life, even when the world tries to pull them in different directions.
Raising children is never easy, but as Christian parents, your ultimate goal is for your children to love Jesus and live out His teachings. How do you get there? The journey is full of challenges, yet with the right focus and guidance, it’s possible to shape your children into God-loving individuals.
1. Surround Yourself With Positive Influences
The first step in raising godly children is to be intentional about who your family spends time with. The influences around your children matter greatly. Make it a priority to surround your family with positive, Christ-centered people.
Even if you don’t have much extended family nearby, turn to the church community for support. Some kids don’t grow up with a lot of cousins or aunts and uncles, but in the church, you can find a whole host of role models and friends who play those roles. See the church family as a real family.
The people you hang out with, especially as parents, will inevitably impact your children. Are your friends modeling values you want your children to learn? This is why choosing the right people is essential. As a parent, you may not always be around, but the community you surround your children with can help them grow in their faith.
2. Initiate Role Models for Your Kids
As children grow, they sometimes listen more closely to others than to their own parents. This can be frustrating, but it’s also an opportunity. You can intentionally introduce role models to your kids who reinforce the lessons and values you are teaching at home.
Whether it was someone sharing with your son to do something or another mentor guiding your daughter, these people can help shape your children’s lives in ways that you alone can’t. Kids often need to hear the same message from multiple voices before it sticks. It’s not a sign that you’re failing as a parent; it’s just how children process information. By giving them positive role models to look up to, you’re reinforcing the faith-centered messages that you want them to embrace.
3. Focus On What Truly Matters
As parents, it’s easy to get caught up in the details—grades, extracurricular activities, and peer pressure. But at the end of the day, what really matters? The focus should always be on making sure our children love Jesus.
You shouldn’t care about the latest trends or whether your kids fit into societal standards. Don’t focus on your children achieving worldly success. Everything else is secondary to Him.
My wife, Telesa, and I always pray that our kids would be in the world but not of it. Always trust this Scripture: “Greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Believing that faith will shield them from the worldly influences around them.
4. Present A United Front
Raising children as a team requires unity between parents. While you may have different expectations—one parent may focus on academics, while the other emphasizes sports—what matters is finding a compromise. Presenting a united front ensures that children don’t feel torn between two different perspectives.
You will have to work through your differences, and at the end of the day, stand together. A united front gives your children a sense of security and stability. It also teaches them how to compromise and work through differences, which are valuable life lessons.
5. Spend Individual Time With Your Children
One practice that will set your family apart is spending one-on-one time with each child. Often, parents are good at spending time with all their kids together but neglect to invest in individual relationships. Make sure to spend individual time with each of your children, even if it means adjusting a busy schedule to make it happen.
Taking each child to lunch once a month may seem small, but the impact will be huge. It’s a time to connect, ask questions, and share their hearts. Building strong, individual relationships with your children helps them feel seen, heard, and valued. It also strengthens their relationship with you and provides opportunities for you to model godly behavior up close.
Building A Strong Faith Foundation
Raising godly children requires intentionality. From choosing the right influences to modeling faith through your actions, every decision you make as a parent plays a role in shaping your child’s relationship with God. Surround them with the right community, introduce them to role models, and show them through your own life what it means to follow Jesus.
Remember that your goal isn’t to raise perfect children but godly ones. Children who know and love Jesus will have a foundation that will carry them through life, even when the world tries to pull them in different directions.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ronnie Kendall
Pastor Ronnie, a Tennessee native, has faithfully served at FBC Loganville for 36 years. He and his wife, Telesa, are proud parents of three grown children. Ronnie's passions include Tennessee football, marriage counseling, and bringing new life to old cars and furniture.