Fall is my favorite season: the leaves changing, the holidays approaching, the routines of life coming back. It’s something I look forward to every year. Summer brings its own joys, but when the weather first starts to change I get excited. There are flannels to be worn, candy corn to eat (I will make no apologies for doing so), and of course all of the excitement of a new school year, a new weekly schedule, and new activities. Very quickly the fall goes from a new season to be enjoyed to a season stuffed like a turkey, with every good and perfect thing that you could possibly stuff it with. You hit the ground running with back to school shopping and you don’t stop until you reach Christmas break. Is this what life to the fullest looks like? Full to the brim, no days off, and more to add because fall is here and we have to make the most of it before it gets too cold?
Don’t get me wrong, I live like that too, one Sunday to the next, prepping lessons, printing curriculum, trying to make the most of the time that I have with the kids that I see, packing in as much of God’s Word as I can. And that right there is the problem, I’m doing as much as I can. I’m doing what I have time for, what I think will work, what I think they need to hear, and the more I do the less I actually accomplish. The work of discipleship isn’t something we do as individuals; it is something that happens through the experiences we have and through the people in our lives, both of which God has ordained. The discipling of children isn’t something that you can control with a full schedule or the perfectly executed program; it is something that they catch when the relationships and circumstances they are in consistently show the love and grace of God.
Look at Jesus, how much of His ministry was done alone? Even the Son of God did not try to teach the disciples in a 6-week lesson or a weekend retreat, but instead they ate together, traveled together and, in turn, the disciples followed him. Jesus gives us a perfect example for us of what it looks like to show God’s love to the world. He did it not through a classroom or a program, but at dinner tables, water wells, and hillsides. He lived a life that pointed to the Father so that through Him others could come into the kind of life the Father has prepared for them.
Some of the most important people in the intentional spiritual development of kids are their parents. A 2024 study by OneHope indicates that 83% of preteens say their parents are their most trusted source for guidance on right and wrong. But the primary discipler of children isn’t solely their parents. It isn’t their small group leader, it isn’t the program director, nor is it their pastor. There is one who disciples at an even deeper level than what happens in the home – Jesus The Primary Discipler. If we try to do it without him, we’re going to find ourselves with full schedules, but not a full life.
So, parents, are you modeling for your kids the fruits of the spirit we talked about this summer? Grandparents, are you encouraging your grandkids in their faith as much as you are their performances? Leaders, are you present both on Sundays and also in your students’ day-to-day life? The encouragement to all is that, wherever you find yourself, you are not doing discipleship alone, you are doing it in partnership with a community, the church-the bride of Christ, and it is He who lights our path, who directs our steps, and who will make all things new. If your season has felt overwhelming, give your schedule to Jesus. Trust that He has put in place all that you need to love and disciple your children, so that they may grow up and confess with their own tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord, of our time, of our responsibilities, and of all.
Check out this recent research report below.
OneHope, “December 2024 Research Radar,” accessed October 12, 2026,
https://research.onehope.net/research-radar/dec-2024.