Spiritual DevelopmentA child has come into your family...what is your role in his spiritual development...his physical...emotional...social...intellectual...and moral growth? You have hopes and dreams about many things for this child...who this child will become...how will you provide for all of his growing needs? You may ask yourself...do you have what it takes to be the spiritual leader of your family? Do you possess enough religious education to provide for his developing spiritual needs? What impact will you have on his faith beliefs? What will the journey with this child look like? How will his spiritual development unfold? Can you hear yourself say..."Whoa, hold on there half a sec...Church professionals know all about this stuff...I intend to send my kid to a religious ed program once a week...that's where he'll learn about faith and the things of God... Besides they are trained to do this work... What do I know about spiritual development?" Hmmmm...that may be so... but the reality is parents have more opportunities for educating and forming their child spiritually...They live with him 24/7...they guide...comfort... protect...feed and clothe...caress and discipline him from day one...Your child depends on you to provide for his development... Think about some of these basic requirements for parents who want to be the spiritual directors of their families... Number one on the list is... -the observance of the terms of the covenant with God revealed to us in the Old Testament, that is the Mosaic covenant of the Ten Commandments.
Terms of the covenant When the rich man asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life (Mt 19:16ff)...Jesus responds...If you wish to enter into life...keep the commandments. Number two is... -Jesus tells the rich man to keep the commandments and adds..."you shall love your neighbor as yourself." With a clear understanding... and commitment to the covenant way of life... all the other skills will fall into place... By this we mean you will develop a core set of values... that will dictate the necessary boundaries... to live a faith filled and spiritual life... boundaries You will establish expressions of the covenant with various religious rituals... practices... and traditions for your family. Now we will move on to the second portion of this page...Stages for Spiritual Development... Spiritual Development |