One way to keep them close to God...

                             How to stop the flood of young people leaving the Church

Why do young people leave the church? Truth is, unfortunately many do and fewer seem to return later in life. I saw a scenario not long ago and they had all sorts of statistics and programs to try to stop them from leaving, but I believe they are overcomplicating it.

Most don’t lose or deny their faith, they just decide it isn’t important now in their life or is something for when they get old or something they will do when they have time, etc.

Teaching them why they believe what they believe and some of the arguments that people may use against them can help, but what about something much simpler, but much more difficult to do?

Teach them to have a love relationship with Jesus!

If I know someone and love them and have a relationship with them, nothing is going to be able to convince me they are not important or that they don’t exist. I love my wife and nothing you can do will ever make me believe she doesn’t exist or is not important. Same goes for God!

We teach morals, rules and a few teach some doctrine, but we don’t teach them how to fall in love with Jesus and how to have a solid relationship based on trust, knowledge and experience. We don’t teach them to live by grace and appreciate the grace we have.

How do we get them to understand the difference between the joyful obedience of an attitude of “I get to love on and obey God” rather than an attitude of “I should”? Programs try to modify their behavior, but instead we need to show them how to love and let their love for God change their behaviors!

I have come to realize that we can’t make them understand or change and it isn’t our job; that is the job of the Holy Spirit. We can teach and show them the truth of God’s love, their sinfulness and His grace for now as well as eternity rather than rules by our love, our actions as well as our words.

We can teach them to obey out of a grateful love, a love based in grace and freedom by sharing the truth and freedom of the Gospel, and also by letting them see what it is like in practice. Show them God’s love by example. And, while you are doing all this it is very important to pray for God to guide you and to enlighten them so they can see what they are apart from Christ, and see who they are in Christ and come to love God and crave time with Him! Then leave the results up to God! Be available, stay an example & watch God work. Pray they will respond to His love!

God says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:5
And Jesus said, “"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15 (NASB)

Learn to love and you will spend time with God and grow to trust Him and to love Him and to obey Him!