Faith and Doubts

Children who grew up in a family of believing parents, as a rule, have a general understanding of the Bible, about the plan of Salvation, about Jesus' sacrifice. They have favorite biblical heroes, and they well remember all those stories about the life of many biblical characters that were so often read to them.

Many parents introduce their children from birth to the world of the Bible and accustom little ones from the earliest age to be part of family worship, common prayers and church attendance. For children raised in such conditions, religious life in purity and righteousness is a norm of life, and they do not know the depths of Satan and are not under the power and oppression of sin as it can be in families where they do not know Christ.

It is considered that until adolescence children are credited with their parents' righteousness, but sometime the moment comes when they themselves must choose their path and build their personal relationships with God. And if they do not know how to make this transition, and parents do not instruct them in this question to pass to them the relay of their faith and personal relationships with Christ, then the enemy of souls will certainly use this ignorance on the part of parents and try to entice young souls with his temptations. Evil spirits do not disdain anything, and they have many means in their arsenal to catch inexperienced and naive teenagers in the net.

Parents can hold their teenagers by means of an "uncircumcised spiritual umbilical cord" and lead their maturing children by their faith further through life, protecting them from attacks from outside. But if their children love the freedom of independent choice, then this will not last forever, and sometime God Himself will intervene and allow such a situation that the teenager will rebel and begin to fight for his freedom to choose his path himself and what to believe in.

It is difficult to say what exactly needs to be given to a teenager so that he becomes a believing person, as his will and his desires are free to choose what he wants and what the heart is drawn to. God gives advice about constant instruction of young people, which acts by forming a certain consciousness and thinking, but the final choice of path is made by the person himself.

Faith and personal relationships with Christ will tell how a teenager, and later an adult person, can avoid bad communities, and bad communities will tell how to lose faith and relationships with God and receive doubts and vanity in exchange.

But, strange as it may seem, the task of wise parents includes the task of teaching their child to doubt and be able to manage his doubt. And we are not talking about doubt in God's word, but about doubt in the world, whether what it offers is really so good.

Truth is unique in that it will not cease to be truth under any trials. And if it is conducted through the sieve of doubts, it does not lose its purity and strength and always remains truth.

It is quite normal if a teenager has natural doubts about the power of God's word and the reliability of biblical events. Suggest he keep a "Notebook of Doubts" where he could write down all his questions and complaints to God and His commandments. If the teenager does not believe in the power and effectiveness of prayer, then let him begin to pray and write down all his prayers in this notebook. Parents should explain that there are conditional and unconditional God's promises, and there are also such answers where God can answer either "yes" or "no" or "wait," as He better knows what is more needed for the one asking.

Personal prayer with the purpose of understanding the power of truth will help the teenager himself see the power of God's word and understand who is right and who is not. God will answer any challenge and any test, as He did in Job's life or in response to the doubts of His disciple Thomas.

Doubt teaches the teenager to ask right questions and find right answers to them. If he does not learn this art himself, then the enemy of souls will begin to offer him his own answers, as he did with Adam's wife. Parents' task includes teaching the teenager not only to ask needed questions, but also to analyze what is offered as answers.

A child taught from childhood good manners and biblical principles already has a firm foundation and correct orientations in his heart that will help him manage his doubt regarding incomprehensible things.

One cannot accept everything the world offers on faith. Beautiful packaging does not speak of useful content, and parents can quickly prove this. All kinds of news do not tell the whole objective truth, and this can also be quickly revealed. And since we live in a world of information, healthy doubt will help filter all the garbage and choose what is right and useful.

The same approach works well in relation to all kinds of communities and companies. The teenager needs communication, and he seeks relationships with peers to become part of a certain society, but he can choose and analyze whether he needs what this world offers and how dangerous this society is.

If you, parents, get ahead of the world and teach your children in advance to doubt everything that is in the world and test everything, this will preserve them from many troubles. God will help teenagers who doubt worldly offers and give them the right direction. They will hear God's voice behind them and choose the right path.

The ability to manage one's doubt is called critical thinking, and it must be formed so that it protects from evil.

How does this work? When I came to live in Germany in 1993, I was surprised by the variety of products in the store and how they were packaged. I wanted to try everything, which I did. But God sent me the light of dietary reform, and I became more selective in choosing food. And when I began to study the contents of packages, I was surprised how such things could be offered to people, and began to put harmful goods on my "blacklist." Now, entering a supermarket, I simply do not pay attention to beautiful packages; my critical thinking taught me not even to touch them, and I calmly pass by and choose what apparently does not contain dangerous ingredients. Of course, it would be better to grow and prepare everything myself, but this is not always possible for me. But I do not judge others if they choose what is harmful to me. This is their right, and I think about my safety.

Such thinking is not formed in one day, and your teenager will make mistakes, and this is part of the working process. Discuss this, together decide how to avoid stepping on the same "rake" next time? Ask leading questions, offer different options for choice and pray for God's presence in your children's lives.

If you offer your son a choice: go to the garden and help you weed the beds or stay home, he will choose home. But if you pose a choice between weeding or watering, planting seeds or pruning branches, then he has a choice but no chance to stay home. But one should not abuse such a way of posing questions so that it does not become manipulation. Be wise in your offers and questions, because the flesh will always resist the spirit and choose the easy path. But when a question is posed wisely, it can set the right direction for thoughts and suggest the right solution and cause the teenager to understand and feel disgust toward any danger.

1. Please read 1Thess. 5:21; John 20:27; 1John 4:1; Isa. 30:21; John 8:44; 14:1; Eph. 5:10; Phil. 4:8; Prov. 3:6; 14:15; James 1:6-8, in light of this lesson.

2. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

3. What was revealed to you in this chapter?

4. How do faith and doubts help teenagers avoid the influence of bad communities?

5. What is doubt and is it always bad?

6. How can doubts contribute to strengthening true faith?

7. How can we teach a teenager to distinguish doubts that lead to growth from doubts that lead to destruction?

8. Why is it important to teach teenagers to doubt what the world offers?

9. Why is critical thinking important for recognizing truth?

10. How can we teach teenagers to filter information using truth?

11. Why is it important to show teenagers the danger of "beautiful packaging" of temptations?

12. How can we teach teenagers to analyze companies and communities they fall into?

13. How does prayer help teenagers find right answers to their questions?

14. What practical ways can we teach children to doubt everything except God's word?