Believe for It, page 5
A personal testimony. Each of us has a unique testimony of how we came to Christ and how He has transformed our lives. Some come to know the Lord quietly as children, while others are rescued by Him in dramatic fashion. My own testimony was a combination. When I was growing up, pastors preached about hell . . . a lot. So I asked Jesus into my heart multiple times, just to be sure I was heaven bound. I began to sense the Spirit’s presence in my life when I was very young. Around eight years old, I made a personal decision to follow Jesus, and I never looked back. I used to wonder if my testimony was exciting enough to draw others to a relationship with Christ. But I’ve come to realize that God has used my quiet testimony of His faithfulness throughout my life to show others the beauty of walking with Him for many years. The wholeness He preserved in me from a young age has centered me and given me strength as I minister to others.
Perhaps your testimony is more dramatic than mine. Praise the Lord! God can use any story; they all have power because He is the author. Revelation 12:10–11 says, “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” Testimonies are powerful! And you have one. And the best part is, you don’t have to be a great evangelist or orator to tell someone your story.
Spiritual gifts. Scripture tells us that when we become a Christian, we receive spiritual gifts. These competencies are distinct from our natural abilities and are given at the time of salvation. Listen to what the apostle Paul tells us about these gifts:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6–8)
This is one of three passages in Scripture that provide a list of spiritual gifts. (Two other lists appear in 1 Corinthians 12:4–11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28.) But this passage reveals two important principles. The first is that we have different gifts. No two Christians are the same. While we are all equipped for good works, we possess individual, God-given traits that help us accomplish those good works. Just as the widow didn’t think much of her jar of oil, we may be tempted to view our gifts as insignificant. We may even compare them to someone else’s. But that is foolish. God has given us the exact gifts He knows we need for the calling.
The second principle found in Romans 12 is God expects us to use our gifts. I’ve always loved the children’s gospel song “This Little Light of Mine.” As a child, I especially relished the part where we sang, “Hide it under a bushel—no! I’m gonna let it shine.” God does not intend for our gifts to lie dormant or stay hidden. He made them to shine. As we use our spiritual gifts, we build up the church, edifying the believers and reaching the lost.
The good news about spiritual gifts is that they have nothing to do with our talent or lack of it. I may have been born with the natural ability to sing, but that is not my spiritual gift. When I received Jesus as my Savior, the Holy Spirit bestowed on me the gifts of teaching and encouragement. If you are a Christ-follower, you also have spiritual gifts. You may already have identified those gifts. If not, you won’t have to look far to find a quiz online or in a book that can help you discover what those gifts are so you can start using them.
GETTING STARTED
Years ago, I couldn’t imagine where the Lord would take me or how He would use my ministry to touch others. When I was that shy seventeen-year-old singing songs on the Praise the Lord show, I had no idea what the years ahead held: A record contract and successful singing career as “BeBe and CeCe” followed by a solo career. Meeting and marrying my husband, Alvin. Becoming close, deep friends with Whitney Houston. Raising a son and daughter. Singing for celebrities and presidents. Burying a brother and my father. Winning prestigious awards. Founding a church. Becoming a grandmother.
My life so far has been quite the mix of sparkly, public successes and unseen, holy moments. Like the widow of 2 Kings, I brought my small jar of oil, not sure it would amount to much, and God did the rest. With each opportunity, big or small, the Lord gave me exactly what I needed. And over time, I realized that God had given me something worth sharing—Himself. He had equipped me with everything I needed to proclaim His name to the next generation. All I had to do was be faithful to pour the oil into the containers He provided.
QUESTIONS to CONSIDER
• Think about your own story so far. What have been some of the highs and lows you’ve experienced, both public and private?
• What do you already possess that God could use to spread His name and fame to the next generation?
• How can He use your story and gifts to manifest His presence in the lives of others and fill them with the reality of His love?
3. Dale Hudson, “How Parents Affect Their Children’s Faith (the Latest Findings),” ChurchLeaders.com, December 27, 2018, https://churchleaders.com/children/childrens-ministry-articles/296226-parents-affect-childrens-faith-latest-findings.html.
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PUTTING IN THE WORK
I wouldn’t say growing up in the Winans household was like bootcamp, but my parents definitely ran a tight ship. For my first four years of life, I was the only girl among seven older brothers. You can imagine the chaos created by seven young men living in cramped quarters. Fights rarely broke out under the watchful eyes of my parents, but when they were out of the house, all bets were off.
As for my place in the pack, my brothers say I was spoiled, but my mother says I was just “good.” As a quiet and compliant child, my demeanor provided quite a contrast to my spirited older brothers, who were always challenging each other and getting into some kind of mischief or another. Although I required fewer consequences, I still found ways to test the boundaries. One time, I engaged in a water fight with my brothers just after I’d received a hard press style at the beauty shop. That style, popular for little black girls at the time, was supposed to keep my locks smooth and straight for two weeks. But the water caused my hair to frizz, and my brothers and I received quite the whipping when my mom returned home.
When my parents were home, order reigned. They both believed discipline was a virtue. And when we strayed from acceptable behavior, there were consequences. Mom and Pop Winans lived by the words of Proverbs 13:24: “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.”
While we have different opinions on “spare the rod, spoil the child,” I think we all can appreciate the second part of that verse: “The one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” This was very much my parents’ perspective. They carefully disciplined us because they loved us—even if my siblings and I sometimes wished they would be less careful.
I wrote this in my memoir, On a Positive Note: “Above all, ‘home training’ meant respecting your parents, respecting elders, no talking back, and having a fear of God. I learned a large part of what it means to be a parent from watching my parents teach us discipline and respect.”1
LIFE LESSONS
Parenting in this way required a lot of effort and intentionality. My mom would work all day as a medical transcriptionist at a local hospital and then come home to train and nurture her brood. She would have conversations with us, sew many of our outfits, and help us prepare for school the next day. As a parent myself, I recognize how easy it is to let little character flaws and behavior problems go uncorrected. Applying careful discipline isn’t a joyride. But here’s why it matters. When we discipline our children, we model the character of God.
Proverbs 3:12 tells us, “The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Correction is an act of love. The parent who disciplines this way has his or her child’s best at heart. I was fortunate to feel this love in my parents’ discipline. They would tell me the truth about my sin and make sure I felt the weight of its consequences, but later there would be an embrace and reassurance that everything was OK. They didn’t hold grudges, and I never doubted they loved me.
Looking back, I can see they disciplined us to protect us from consequences we could face later in life if we did not develop prudence and self-control. Even at the time, we had more rules than the average family. Those rules outlawed dancing, parties, makeup, sleepovers, and going to movies. Though my mom and dad set strict parameters, they were fair. They heard us out if we brought them a request, and they were wise and judicious.
Along with providing discipline, my parents took us to church on a regular basis. We could be found in those pews three days a week. As I’ve already mentioned, taking in the Word of God and Christian fellowship had a profound influence on us. It’s true that you become like those you run with. I know it was a big commitment for my mom and dad to get ten children up and ready for church each Sunday morning. They may have had other activities they would have liked to pursue during the week, other than taking us to multiple church meetings. But if they did, we never heard about it. Being part of Christian community was a priority for our family.
One of my favorite things about my home was the godly, grace-filled atmosphere and the sense of safety. We would gather around the piano in our small living room and sing one song after another for hours on end. I remember my parents and grandparents discussing the Scriptures with us in an informal and authentic way. One thing I didn’t sense was a formula. We didn’t do a certain number of family Bible studies per week or eat dinner together every night. My parents’ jobs and our activities didn’t always allow for that. But God was a natural part of our home, our ultimate authority and a topic that came up regularly.
Each day before we left for school, my mom would pray with us, commissioning us to live for Christ in whatever challenges we would face that day. I imagine those prayers protected us from many of the devil’s schemes and gave us the boldness we needed to live differently from our peers. I already looked different with my long skirts and makeup-free face, and those morning prayers reminded me of why I lived by a different standard. I saw how prayer could change my daily circumstances and help me when I faced challenges.
As I think back to my childhood, my parents’ investment in my spiritual life was massive. They both worked full-time jobs, but our upbringing was as important to them as their work outside the home. It was more important, in fact. They put in the work. Their method of instilling faith in their children wasn’t groundbreaking or complicated, but it was labor intensive. It was made up of many daily decisions that supported their overall objective of raising us to fear the Lord. They knew their goal, and they were willing to take the steps necessary to reach it.
PLANTING POWERFUL FAITH
Maybe as you read the description of my childhood “home training,” you found yourself feeling a little exhausted. Me too! My parents, and many in their generation, excelled at working hard to pass on faith to the next generation. (Part of that could be they just worked harder at things in general.) My parents made sure we were grounded in the Word and immersed in Christian community. They had their flaws, of course, but their strength was diligently teaching their children about God through every aspect of life. They showed us what it looks like to love God with your whole heart, not bending to what the world says is good.
The Bible tells us that a person reaps what they sow. They harvest what they plant. Galatians 6:8 explains this concept well: “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.” I don’t know about you, but I sure do feel the world’s pull to sow to please the flesh. How often do we hear these phrases?
“Treat yourself.”
“Pamper yourself; you deserve it.”
“Take care of you.”
It is so easy to see self-care as the top priority. Believe me. I get it. Overall, we’re a busy, burned-out bunch, aren’t we? In fact, studies show that one in fourteen children in the United States has a caregiver with poor mental health.2 Many of us are running on fumes. Some of us find ourselves at a breaking point. Like being on an airplane with a child, you need to put that oxygen mask on yourself before you can help someone else.
Please hear my heart. You may need a break, and that’s OK. Take the break. Find support. Allow God to refresh you. But then be about the work of sowing faith into the next generation. Say I wanted fresh tomatoes in my vegetable garden, then I would need to plant tomato seeds. I can choose to plant peas instead, but when that plant grows, it won’t yield juicy, red tomatoes. The same is true of tending the faith of the younger generation. If we want to instill faith and godliness into our children and grandchildren, we must plant those seeds through our daily actions. We must read the Scripture and have conversations about it. We must talk about what God is doing in our lives. We must pray with our children and over them. We must model for them how we trust the Lord through trials. We must teach them to love their enemies. This is sowing to the Spirit, and it bears good fruit.
If we use our time differently—binge-watching our favorite TV shows, mindlessly scrolling through social media, indulging fear and worry, working incessantly, outsourcing our children’s spiritual training to the church only—we will produce a different crop. I am not trying to lay a guilt trip; no parent or family will be perfect. But we have to know our goal and stick to a plan that will accomplish that goal. This process of planting faith in our children doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it does require work.
As I look at my rich Christian heritage and what God has taught me as a mother and grandmother, here are a few ways I believe we can plant seeds of faith in our children.
Teach them the Word of God. This sounds deceptively simple. But going back to Deuteronomy 6 we can see it takes consistency and effort to pass on the precepts of the Lord. Let’s revisit that passage: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” (Galatians 6:6–8).
If we want to instill faith and godliness into our children and grandchildren, we must plant those seeds through our daily actions.
This passage instructs the people to teach their children God’s precepts throughout the day everywhere they go. And verse 6 provides the key: God’s instructions for life are to be on our hearts as the older generation. Our excitement for God’s Word will naturally overflow into conversations with our young people.
The reality is that right now, God’s Word is not a primary shaping factor for the next generation. A 2021 survey found that only 11 percent of Americans read the Bible daily, and 29 percent never read the Bible.3 Sadly, it’s been said that millennials are the most likely demographic never to read the Bible. Since 63 percent of American adults consider themselves to be Christians, it’s easy to see the disconnect.4 How is the next generation supposed to learn who God is if they don’t know His Word? Instead of our children being shaped by the Bible, other sources are instructing them. Here’s a perfect example: the average American spends three hours a day watching TV, not counting media consumed on personal devices.5
If we want to reach the next generation, we must find ways to teach them the Scriptures and encourage them to look to it as a source of knowledge and help. If you have children at home, create natural opportunities to talk about God by having a regular family devotion time at breakfast, dinnertime, or before bed. Read and discuss a book of the Bible together, perhaps one chapter a day. Talk about what the passage says and how you can obey it and apply it to your own lives. Post Bible verses around the house to keep the Scripture always before you.
If you don’t have children in the home, find some young people with whom you can engage in Bible study. You don’t have to be a great theologian to dissect the living Word with another person. Open your home or meet at a coffee shop. My heart is always blessed when I walk into my favorite coffee place and see two believers sitting at a table with their Bibles open. Sharing God’s Word with one another and with the next generation needs to be more than a Sunday morning thing.
Pray. The second way you can plant seeds of faith in the next generation is through your prayers. I have heard countless stories of a person coming to know Christ as the result of the prayers of a faithful parent or grandparent. My Grandmother Howze prayed for me, and I believe her prayers had a profound effect on my life. My great-grandfather regularly prayed for all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and his prayers also bore much fruit.
James tells us, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (5:16). I love that confession of sin is linked to powerful prayers. All of us enter this world with both generational blessings and generational curses from our families of origin. All of us sin. But that need not affect our prayer life. James tells us that when we confess our sin and pray for one another, our prayers are powerful and effective because we remain in righteous standing with God.
