are my kids christians?

How do you know when your child has made their relationship with Jesus personal? I have asked this question to others and often in my own prayer time with the Lord. Both of my girls have prayed "the prayer." My kids love Jesus. They pray to Him even unprompted at times and we talk about Him often throughout the day. My greatest desire, my passion is for my kids that they would know Jesus intimately and serve Him with all of their hearts.

Most every night we pray that they will say yes to Jesus and love Him wholeheartedly. And yet, I've wondered and prayed, when will I know when He's become their personal Savior and Lord?

Today as I was talking with the Lord about this again, I felt Him say. Don't worry. I love them more than You do. I will draw them to Myself. Your job is to teach them about Me, to love them and challenge them and to apologize to them when you mess up. Your job is to passionately pursue Me so that they will see a tangible example of what life with Christ looks like.

I Peter 5:2-3 "Care for the flock that God has entrusted you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly, not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example."

Often during times of discipline, my kids will say "But I can't remember, or I can't be good all of the time..." I always respond, "Your right, you can't but Jesus CAN help you. We need to ask Him to help you right now."

I want my kids to get that they are unable to be good on their own. I want them to see the sin in their lives so they will feel their need for Him as Savior. I want them to hear me apologize to them so they understand that I can't do it either. I need Jesus desperately, just like they do.

This is what has become more clear to me. I don't need to wait until I know for sure that they have made a "commitment to Jesus" to start challenging them in their faith journey. That starts day one.

Deuteronomy 11:16 and 18 "Be careful. Don't let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods.... So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."

I think we as Christians often place so much emphasis on the salvation decision and not enough on living the life of faith. God calls us to much more than a one time decision. That decision, that choice where we realize that "I am a sinner who needs a Savior" is of course so very important but that's not all He wants from us. That's just the beginning!

Let's be about challenging our children (from little on up) to live lives of radical faith. Let's make sure we are living by radical faith. We have a high calling on our lives - to LET GO of ourselves and trust Him enough to live lives of obedience. He calls us to passionately love Him and serve others. When we live lives of faith, others are drawn to Him and He is glorified! We only have a few short years here, let's not waste our precious time. Our kids are watching us and the world is waiting.