Raising children is one of the significant stresses of every parent. It makes us question whether we have become proper parents to our children. On top of this, we also want our children to be raised with some sense of religiosity and faithfulness. We want them to be obedient to what is good. After which, we can foster the good behavior they exhibit from this sense of faithfulness and work from there. But first, let’s look into the reason you want to raise a faithful child.
Social Learning Theory and Faithfulness
Faith is necessary for everyone’s life, regardless of the religion they believe in. Without faith, we can easily lose purpose. People who don’t believe in a supreme being still have faith. They have faith in their fellow human beings and within themselves. Faith is a characteristic that motivates us; it brings us to a deeper sense of understanding. But how can we instill faith into our children?
Children who are faithful and exhibit good behavior usually get it from their parents. The social learning theory by psychologist Albert Bandura suggests that children are most likely to perform immoral acts if they see their parents do it, regardless of their faith and religiosity. The main reason you should raise a faithful child is that you want them to do good things. If you keep this good belief inside you, you can easily instill it into your children.
Teach Your Children to Be Healthy
One of our obligation as parents is to help our children live a healthy life because, without a healthy life, they can’t live a faithful life. Faith is integrated into self-actualization. As psychologist Abraham Maslow explains, you can’t gain self-actualization without fulfilling your physiological needs first. An unhealthy person is less likely to achieve self-actualization than a healthy one. You can start being healthy by monitoring what your children eat and what they do in their free time. It’s good if they are not idle all the time and that they are doing something with their body. It’s also crucial that they take the necessary precautions to avoid diseases.
Diseases such as arthritis can come from early childhood experiences, especially those who experience such illness during their early adulthood stage. You must get your children the arthritis treatment they need if they feel some minor symptoms. It can also be avoided if your children do some exercise at least once or twice a week. Minor exercises can already be a big help to avoid this disease and other diseases in the future. It can also be a fun activity for your child.
Volunteering
This is something you and your children can do on weekends. It is the prime representation of faith in humankind and that we are all integrated, regardless of where we live and what we do. So it’s disheartening to know that fewer people are doing volunteering nowadays, especially now when we need it the most.
The act of volunteering can help your child relate with others. It will help them gain the knowledge they need to know more about the world around them and how it works. It will teach them how to empathize with others. But, most importantly, it will teach them what it means to be good and faithful to people around them. If you do a couple of weekends volunteering with your children, you’ll see a significant change in their lifestyle. They’ll be more mature and sensitive to other people’s needs. Furthermore, their faith will strengthen, knowing that it is good in the world.
Strong Ties with Family Members
Lives that are lived faithfully are those usually shared with family members. Strong family ties are fostered by parents and then shared with their children because faith demands that we have one another. Remember that our children learn from our personal experiences, too, so be sure to let their grandparents tell good stories of sharing and their sacrifices for others. From this, they can learn various experiences of what it means to be a good person, which can help them live meaningful lives. This will also help them become resilient against problems in life. Having strong family ties can ultimately immerse your children in what is good.
Here are some simple ways to help raise your child to be faithful. They are fairly simple ways, so you shouldn’t have a hard time implementing them. By using your experiences and giving them the freedom, you can give them the agency they need to become adults with faith, regardless of your religion, in the future.
