Recently my brother wrote a blog on what he called “inherited faith”—people sharing the faith of their parents because that is what they were taught. They follow the faith of their family as a tradition, not as a conviction, or because they are truly converted to that faith. He wrote: “To me that is almost as deeply felt faith as saying ‘I drink 7-UP because my parents drank it and I see no reason to try anything else I might like better.’”
It made me think about how you influence your children to gain a testimony of your church or your faith. They cannot rely on your testimony for long after they become adults and question everything, so what do you do during their growing years to help them (1. Want to worship the same religion as you do? and (2. Know how to recognize and gain a testimony of the religion?
The first question presupposes that you are happy with your faith and want your children to follow in your faith, which I feel in most cases is true. If you are not happy with your faith, you wouldn’t care if they followed your faith, but would want them to be good Christian, God-fearing, ethical people, regardless of which religion they chose.
But if you were devout, you probably would want your children to know God, to trust in Him, to follow His precepts, and make worship an integral part of their lives as you have made it part of yours. What would you do during your child rearing to encourage your children to live such a life?
Of course, you would go to church regularly, pray daily, study scriptures frequently, keep the commandments, spend quality family time together, love each other and show that love by how they interact with each other. I am sure most Christian families do these things automatically. I would like to suggest one other thing that might make the most difference—something that is a part of much of what these families routinely do, and take for granted—encourage the activities that help family members feel the spirit of God.
In an article published in the Deseret News on July 24, 2009, National Public Radio's religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author of the book, Fingerprints of God, stated that, "51 percent of people in this country report having had a ‘transformative spiritual experience that they can't ignore.’"
That would only make sense as we read in the Book of Mormon, in Moroni 7: 16, “the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; . . . for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”
I feel it is the spiritual feelings that we have in our church experiences (and in other sacred experiences) that are the foundations of our testimonies of both the existence of a God, and the truth of our own sect or faith. We cannot manufacture these feelings for others, but we can create an atmosphere in the home where this feeling can be felt, and the family members can know what it feels like and recognize it when they feel it again.
Also, Moroni’s promise in Moroni 10:5, “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” is so reassuring—knowing that you can pray to know the truth of something and encouraging family members to pray for that truth, is empowering. It refers not only to spiritual things, but to all things! However, when it comes to your faith, you are not relying on your parents’ word—you are receiving your own spiritual revelation or testimony of the truth. How important it is then that you are accustomed to praying to know the truth of important things? How important is it to know how to recognize the spirit that testifies of that truth!
I remember when I received my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I had read it and had prayed, trusting in Moroni’s specific promise about the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10: 3-5 “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things . . . and ponder it in your hearts . . . I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”
I remember the wonderful feeling of assurance, of knowledge, of faith, of spiritual power that flowed through me that this Book of Mormon was not just another book, but true revelation. The thought, a testimony of either Brigham Young or Parley Pratt that I had once read came forcefully to my mind by the spirit: “God or the devil has written this book, for man never wrote it.” As I remembered those words, I knew they were true; the Book of Mormon had been revealed to Joseph Smith and translated by the power of the Holy Ghost. I recognized the spirit that testified to me from the times as a child I had felt the spirit when I had been given a blessing of healing, or been present at a time when someone was given a blessing and the spirit was very strong.
I remember a young man telling me that he had prayed to know if the church was true—if President Hinckley (who was then the president of the church) was a prophet. He hadn’t received an answer to his prayer until he was watching General Conference. While President Hinckley was talking, this young man said he was filled with the most overpowering feeling that President Hinckley was indeed a prophet a God, and the church was true! He recognized the spirit that testified to him and knew it was from God.
These spiritual feelings are what we remember that make up our “testimony” and strengthen us during our dark days when it seems there is no hope in the world. I remember another young man who had not been active in his church for a number of years when he attended his aunt’s funeral.
His aunt and uncle had been prominent in the church on the east coast and Elder Zwick, a general authority who had worked with them spoke at the funeral. Elder Zwick talked about the aunt and told some personal experiences he’d shared with her. At the end of the funeral, this young man mentioned to me how impressed he was with Elder Zwick’s comments. He said he felt a power in his talk that he hadn’t felt before. The closing song at the funeral was “How Great Thou Art,” and afterwards this young man asked his sister about it. She mentioned it was a common song, which she’d sung many times before. He then asked her if she heard the extra people singing. She said no, she had not, but that she was crying hard at the time! This young man (who no one would call very spiritual) said that he felt very strongly during the closing song, that he could hear others, besides the audience, singing and he knew they were family who’d passed away that were there—singing and praising the Lord.
These are the kind of spiritual experiences, which testify of God, and bring us to church each Sunday to renew our faith and regain that feeling. It is what prompts us to pray, and read the scriptures and keep the commandments so we can be receptive to the spirit. It is what prompts us to be worthy and to go to the temple. It is what helps us recognize when others are speaking by the spirit. “For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” (2 Nephi 33:1.)
What can we give our children while they are young to help them find their spiritual path to God? To help them gain a testimony that will sustain them through their life? To help them trust and love God? Is it the traditions of our church? The happiness of our home and family? The habits of attending church? All of these are wonderful, necessary and provide them with a pattern for happiness, but I feel that one of the most important “gifts” you can give your children is spiritual experiences.
When “the young experience the gospel and its fruits and know it is true. Then nobody has to tell them; they experience it,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained in a February 1978 Liahona article “These experiences will give each of your young people a storehouse of spiritual experiences on which he can draw, much as our people can draw upon the supplies of food and clothing have laid away.”
Are we providing the opportunities for our young children to gain a storehouse of spiritual experiences on which they can draw when they become older and need to develop a testimony? Or are we only providing them with a supply of food and clothing that they will outgrow?
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