Almost every parent alive has experienced a child who came to them and asked
THE question – “Why do we have to go to church?”

For many of us, we have lacked the experience and the certitude of our role as children of God. Therefore, we have lacked confidence in the response we have given to our own children. A response that was neither sufficient for us, nor for them.

We need a response that first and foremost is a true conviction of our own heart’s belief. Once we have that conviction of truth, our response to our children will have a profound effect. Instead of answering our kids with “because it is the right thing to do” or “because we have to”, wouldn’t it better if the response went something like this (spoken from my perspective):

You would kneel down before them, to get on eye level and say:

“Listen, (child’s name), there is something very important that I need you to understand.” Once you have your child’s full attention, then continue with: “I want you to know that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. (Child’s name), I want everyone in the world to know that I am God’s Man. He is the most important person in my life and there is no one else in the world that I love more than Him.

I Love God more than your mother or you or my parents. He will always come first in my life. I am working really hard to do only what He wants me to do in every situation of my life. Therefore, I want everyone in the world to see me live my life and know that God is real BECAUSE of how I live with Him.

(Child’s name), this world we live in is filled with all kinds of lies and evil forces that want to control you. They have rebelled against God and don’t want you to know Him. They don’t want you to ever find Jesus, like I did, because if you do, you will never want to let go of Him. They would rather you follow them and do sinful evil things and thus, never really be happy.

I go to church because there is nowhere else in the world where you can truly learn about God. You will never learn the truth about God and Jesus anywhere else except in His Church. I NEED to come to church because I need His help to continue to become the man of God I was created to be. I need to come because I need to hear the truth and to find the courage to live it in this world that encourages to you lie.

The best gift in the world I could ever give you is not money or presents, but the way to find Jesus in your own heart. He is Love, and that beautiful heart of yours was made for love. You were made for Jesus. You will never be truly happy until you find Him.

So we are going to church because I desperately need His Church to help me grow closer to Him, and you need to learn how to find and love Him. (Child’s name), when God created you and I, we were created to live forever so that we could be with God who will live forever.

Ask me any questions you have, and if I don’t know the answer, we will find it together. Deal? DEAL!”

Imagine what our children would receive from us if they heard this kind of answer that was backed up by witnessing us live a model of daily prayer, daily scripture study, frequent attendance to the Sacraments, and have close friends who are faith-filled believers.

THEY WILL FOLLOW THE MODEL