Cultivating A Christian Worldview- Our Nine-Year-Old Girl

She made sure we were up and ready for church every Sunday, and took us to as many weekday services and events as was possible (including funerals). I can remember being mocked a few times for wearing long-sleeved shirts and carrying my Bible in hand on Sundays as we walked to church. That was torture for a kid! High school was a challenge, trying to live in two worlds (Christian vs. secular). I committed to follow Christ at 12 years old. The training part for me occurred when I moved to the city to live with my mom and stepdad, who are both Christians. I can remember those many many many many many devotions at home. Granted, our daughter is adopted (she’s been living with us now for the past eight months), so consideration must be given to her past. And what a past it seems. Getting into her world was a challenge. No, it was rough. But now she’s opening up and sharing. It feels like nine years old is the new twelve years old. They know so much. I cannot believe it.

Yesterday she told me she had lied to me about not knowing about worship. That she’d been told before, just that she did not care to. Seems I can never really know if she’s telling the truth. I can only observe her actions and start there. What is clear, is that she reminds me of my own battle with the flesh – it is not instinctive to “live Christ.” No doubt this is why adults often call church folks hypocrites. It is unnatural for any human to just “live Christ” all the time. Adam made sure of that:

Sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned (Romans 5:12b)