Roots: Beliefs

When our children leave our home, our desire as parents is that they take with them the beliefs and values that we planted in our homes through their childhood. However, the reality is that when kids go off to college, many of them think, “FREEDOM!! No more parents telling me what to do! No more parents in control! I’m in college I can do whatever I want!”

I imagine this feeling was probably similar to the Israelites in to the Book of Exodus, when they were first freed from Egypt and Pharaoh’s rule.

However, God was telling his people, “Actually, you can’t just do whatever you want . . . but you are now FREE to know what to do.” The Ten Commandments the Lord gave to Israel was the Lord telling his beloved children, “You are free to do the right thing!” So I have always believed the Bible’s Ten Commandments as the Ten Freedoms.

The Ten Commandments are described as God speaking all these words as instructions to his beloved people, and these words were etched in stone. There was a permanence attached to God’s design for how we live.

MASTER GARDENER

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7 [NIV]

Beliefs – Values – Attitudes – Behaviors

Beliefs shape our values which form our attitudes and create our behaviors.

How do we define these terms?

• Beliefs – Faith and convictions
• Values – Sum of beliefs
• Attitudes – Mindset based on the sum of values and beliefs
• Behaviors – Conduct, actions, and manifestations of our values and beliefs

I love this description: Core values are the guiding principles that define your identity and your choices. They help you determine which people, things, goals, and decisions align with your true self. At the deepest level, knowing your core values prevents you from betraying yourself in pursuit of temporary or futile distractions. Values give you a firm footing in your beliefs and a solid internal compass to gauge your decision-making. [Science of People]

As parents, Joyce and my desire was to train up our daughters in a system of faith-based beliefs. We wanted to teach and model the love of our Heavenly Father and lay a foundation of faith and truths that our daughters could trust. We were part of a study several years ago that looked at missionary and pastor’s kids. The likelihood of children repeating the father & mother’s faith was primarily dependent on how authentically the father lived faith at home.

Authenticity of Beliefs

As Joyce and I looked at how to live out our faith in an authentic way, we knew we needed to address these questions:

1. Who is God?
2. What is truth?
3. What core values do you want in your family?
4. What does it mean to live in God’s freedom?

Who is God?

God is our Creator; He was there from the beginning. He is also our Comforter and always with me. If I am hurt, He sees, and He cares.

You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.

Psalm 56:8 [MSG]

What is truth?

Jesus tells us, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” [John 14:6 NIV] The questions asked nowadays are:

What is the right thing to do?
What is truth?
What is life worth?

Jesus tells us, “Get to know ME, and I will show you.” When we know Jesus, we know His character and know truth.

What are your core values?

Our core values are the roots of beliefs from which we want to build the foundation of our home. These can be a different focus for each home at different seasons.

Here is a brainstorm of ideas that we came up with:

Look in the mirror of your own life and ask what are the areas of growth for you personally. Do you know people like this? Can you ask them to be a mentor for you?

What does it mean to believe and live in God’s freedom?

Scripture shows us how God gave Moses a set of TEN FREEDOMS to show us how to live. To set the scene, the Israelites had been living as Egyptian slaves under the oppressive rule of the pharaoh for 400 years. They were also surrounded by Egyptian culture which worshiped a variety of nature-gods and forced into hard labor. While they worshiped God, the Israelites lost faith in God.

When the people could no longer endure their suffering, God raised up Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh and free the Israelites from bondage. After generations of Egyptian slavery, they were free and had to learn how to live is this new freedom. God wanted them to know that He loved them and was going to look out for them, but the Israelites needed to TRUST HIM. As the physical journey to freedom was long and hot, the Israelites got whiny and decided that they knew better than God and did not want to trust in Him.

The Ten Commandments were birthed to guide the Israelites to TRUST GOD and choose to live a new life free from oppression. These freedoms are designed to order our lives, our homes, and our culture.

These “rules” were not about creating restrictions. God’s heart was to have his people live with the freedom to love and know Him fully without any guilt or shame.

Freedoms (1-4) – Relating to God
Freedoms (5-10) – Relating to People


As we impress our beliefs to our children, look at the Ten Commandments through a new lens. What FREEDOMS do we gain when we trust in the Lord?

MORE RESOURCES:

Marv’s interpretation of our Ten Freedoms: Freedoms Relating to God and Freedoms Relating to People
Read more about planting deep roots: Seeds Now-Harvest Later
Listen for more at our Resource Library