Children Must Know and Walk with God Themselves!

I was reading in Judges 2 where there are some of the saddest verses in the Bible. It said; "After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord  nor what he had done for Israel. Then the  Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them." 

Throughout Judges we read where the people of Israel did evil and forgot God. God sent other nations to test and see if they would obey Him; so, when the people called out to God for help, He sent a judge to fight those who were oppressing them. The people turned back to God - for awhile, then they did evil, forgot God, and this pattern continued.

When I look at the world around me it is clear new generations are doing evil and forgetting God. Why is this? In Judges it said a generation came along who did not know or experience how God saved them from Egypt. They did not have a relationship of their own with God. So, they did what they wanted and forgot God. Isn't this what we see happening around us today?

Our children have heard about our relationship with God, but if they do not know and walk with God themselves, they will at some point, turn to doing what they want and will forget God. This tells me several things . . . 

1. While programs are a fine part of our Children's Ministry, if we are not really helping children grow to know and walk with God themselves, they will not obey Him as they grow up.
2. We must evaluate constantly what we are doing to be sure we are not distracted by our programs and are really helping children know and walk with God themselves.
3. Our focus must be on helping children know and walk with God themselves.
4. We MUST teach children the "whys" so they know why they are able to believe.

What are you doing to be sure children come to know and walk with God themselves in your ministry?