Baptism Concern

[PeterQ]

Hi brothers and sisters,
Your opinion please. I am ready and set for Baptism very soon. Full of the Holy Spirit without personal doubt,. My concern is that my 13 year old daughter will not come to the occasion as she says she 'doesnt believe.' I have always had a hands off approach to her views in the hope she will come around. We occasionally engage in gentle theological discussion but she remains firm and I dont push too hard, She used to come to church when she was little but as she got older I did no force her.
Now. as she refuses to attend my demonstration of faith, I feel I have failed as a father and I am considering cancelling the event until I feel less of a failure...I may be over reacting but I am upset.
your opinion is appreciated

 

[Revmitchell]

You have not failed until you have given up. I would say that the hands off approach is not the best. She needs to be taught the right thing. That cannot happen if she is left on autopilot. She needs to be in church regularly every time you and your wife go. She needs to be at youth events even when she may not want too. When she grows up and supports herself she can make her own decisions. Until then she needs to be taught, discipled, and just flat out made to at times. She also needs to be at your Baptism. She is 13 she has no way to know what she needs for herself.

 

[PeterQ]

You have not failed until you have given up. I would say that the hands off approach is not the best. She needs to be taught the right thing. That cannot happen if she is left on autopilot. She needs to be in church regularly every time you and your wife go. She needs to be at youth events even when she may not want too. When she grows up and supports herself she can make her own decisions. Until them she needs to be taught, discipled, and just flat out made too at times. She also needs to be at your Baptism. She is 13 she has not way to know what she needs for herself.

thank you Revmitchell

 

[Internet Theologian]

Hi brothers and sisters,
Your opinion please. I am ready and set for Baptism very soon. Full of the Holy Spirit without personal doubt,. My concern is that my 13 year old daughter will not come to the occasion as she says she 'doesnt believe.' I have always had a hands off approach to her views in the hope she will come around. We occasionally engage in gentle theological discussion but she remains firm and I dont push too hard, She used to come to church when she was little but as she got older I did no force her.
Now. as she refuses to attend my demonstration of faith, I feel I have failed as a father and I am considering cancelling the event until I feel less of a failure...I may be over reacting but I am upset.
your opinion is appreciated

No, do not forego being baptized. Don't take this the wrong way, but I am certain you did not stop telling your daughter to behave, bathe, brush her teeth, clean her room and the like. Those are all important things which one would be firm about, so why leave off that which was of importance to her, spiritually? I pray that God gets through to her...

 

[PeterQ]

No, do not forego being baptized. Don't take this the wrong way, but I am certain you did not stop telling your daughter to behave, bathe, brush her teeth, clean her room and the like. Those are all important things which one would be firm about, so why leave off that which was of importance to her, spiritually? I pray that God gets through to her...

No, do not forego being baptized. Don't take this the wrong way, but I am certain you did not stop telling your daughter to behave, bathe, brush her teeth, clean her room and the like. Those are all important things which one would be firm about, so why leave off that which was of importance to her, spiritually? I pray that God gets through to her...

Thankyou for your prayers Internet Theologian, You are right, I didnt stop telling her to do those other things, I was hoping/praying she would come to a faith decision herself by my example, I know what a strong little character she is and I didnt want her to dig her heels in on the matter. At this point, thats exactly whats happened. We hardly ever have harsh words but my disappointment is clear to her. We shall see how things are after a sleep. Thanks again for your kind words

 

[Internet Theologian]

Thankyou for your prayers Internet Theologian, You are right, I didnt stop telling her to do those other things, I was hoping/praying she would come to a faith decision herself by my example, I know what a strong little character she is and I didnt want her to dig her heels in on the matter. At this point, thats exactly whats happened. We hardly ever have harsh words but my disappointment is clear to her. We shall see how things are after a sleep. Thanks again for your kind words

PeterQ, don't allow your disappointment to be seen or to control you. If you live that way you are focusing on self. God is sovereign, so trust Him. Since God saved Paul (1 Timothy 1:15ff) this is a pattern for all after as to show there are no limitations to His ability to convert any sinner He has chosen (note Matthew 19:26 in its context). Pray, read, believe and grow in the faith. We will pray for your daughter.

 

[PeterQ]

Thank you. God Bless you.

 

[Internet Theologian]

Thank you. God Bless you.

Thanks, God bless you and yours as well.

 

[PeterQ]

Shes coming. Thank you for your prayers. They were heard. The power of prayer!!!!
Our family setup is sadly not conventional and I won't bore you with the living details but my daughter and her mum will be there. hallelujah.

 

[HankD]

I could hear the hallelujah chorus in my head while reading your last post

HankD

 

[PeterQ]

hahaha, thank you HankD, God Bless you;

 

[heisrisen]

That's great I'm glad she's going! I will be praying for her heart to be softened to the gospel message and to get saved. Congrats on your baptism.

 

[PeterQ]

Thankyou so much for your prayers and kind message heisrisen.
Blessings to you,

 

[Judith]

Hi brothers and sisters,
Your opinion please. I am ready and set for Baptism very soon. Full of the Holy Spirit without personal doubt,. My concern is that my 13 year old daughter will not come to the occasion as she says she 'doesnt believe.' I have always had a hands off approach to her views in the hope she will come around. We occasionally engage in gentle theological discussion but she remains firm and I dont push too hard, She used to come to church when she was little but as she got older I did no force her.
Now. as she refuses to attend my demonstration of faith, I feel I have failed as a father and I am considering cancelling the event until I feel less of a failure...I may be over reacting but I am upset.
your opinion is appreciated

You are correct, you have failed as her father, but you can turn that around. As long as any child is in the home they need to be in church. I assume that you do not allow her to choose if she goes to school or not. Well she has no right to choose if she attends church or not either. You are her father. Set her down and let her know who runs the house.

 

[PeterQ]

Thanks for you straight talking Judith. All was good today. The Baptism was a wonderful event and my daughter was there. I agree with you in principle but my soft approach seems to have won through in the end. Our history is in the Catholic tradition and she commented ''why didn't we go to a fun church like this years ago?''
Blessings to you

 

[Judith]

Thanks for you straight talking Judith. All was good today. The Baptism was a wonderful event and my daughter was there. I agree with you in principle but my soft approach seems to have won through in the end. Our history is in the Catholic tradition and she commented ''why didn't we go to a fun church like this years ago?''
Blessings to you

No my friend you did not win today. This is exactly how satan wrks. He will give you enough rope that seems like a victory so you hang yourself and those around you. She is still calling the shots, you lose. My prayers for you and her.

 

[PeterQ]

Thankyou