Nothing will help you, destroy you, love you, hurt you, carry you, or hinder you like your family. Your personal experience may have been wonderful but there is also the possibility it was not. When it comes to faith, there are extremes created because of our own family experiences. Many are strong in their faith because of the influence of their families and many others want nothing to do with God because of their upbringing.
Through scripture parents have been instructed to pass on their faith and what they have learned to their children. They have a responsibility to care, nurture, provide, and protect them. Every study about the effects of family and faith would agree that you will be far more likely to be living out your faith as an adult if you have parents who are consistent in prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance.
Obviously, that is not the case for everyone. You may not have anyone in your family who is a believer, or really encourages you in your faith. Perhaps you have parents who call themselves Christians but are not really living like you know they should.
The good news is that your family tree is bigger than you may think. You also have a larger family of other believers. They may not be your natural family but they are your supernatural one.
No matter which family we are talking about the truth is, ‘we need each other.’ We need family. We need each other. We are stronger when we know we are not alone.
We learn from others. Hearing from them. Seeing what they do. Trying it ourselves. Getting advice.We learn from their mistakes and successes.
If we want to grow in faith we need to be around people who will invest in us. We need examples. Very often this will be our family members or it may be other’s whom God has sent our way.
Your spiritual family may include your youth worker, leaders, pastors, friends, relatives, and adults from your church. If you want to learn from them you need to be with them.
One of the challenges I want to give you is to learn to do ministry with people and your family. Don’t just go to church with them. You get to know people when you talk, hang out, and work together. Try this with people of all ages, not just your peers.
Get involved with your youth or young adult ministry. You need time with people your own age. Also, get involved with your whole church. If you don’t connect with the whole church as a young person you most likely won’t stay when you are an adult.