I was recently reading in Ministry of Healing the section titled “My Praise Shall Be Continually of Thee,” beginning on page 100. It talks of how when Christ helped others, that He asked them to share what works He had rendered unto them. This builds up the faith of those around us, but mostly builds the faith of the one doing the sharing. When we share, we speak it, and we hear it. These are proven ways for us to learn and remember. Back in Bible times, the feasts and festivals gave opportunity for God’s people to pause and remember. They spoke of God’s works and remembered His goodness. It increased their faith at the same time.

I don’t know about you, but I want my children’s faith to be strong, unstoppable, and dependable. We are told in the New Testament of how our faith needs to be used in order to grow. Our testimony of God’s works, also, is another way in which our faith will grow. Personal testimony is a much stronger way for us to grow in our faith. On page 100 of Ministry of Healing it states, “It is for our own benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our memory. By this means faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others.”

I got to thinking about how as an adult, it is sometimes hard for us to share a memory of when God worked in our lives. Children when asked to share, often just shrug their shoulders as if they don’t understand what you are trying to ask them. Many think they are too young to have a testimony of their own. This is wrong. In Psalms 71:5, the Bible states “You are my trust from my youth.” We need to be teaching our children how to recognize their faith and to recall it.

I know there are many ways to do this, and I try to teach my kids lessons when they happen, hoping that they will recognize God in our day-to-day encounters. We go over an event and share God’s blessings together. We pray and thank God for His work in our lives. This is a wonderful way to begin to recognize the works and blessings of God in our lives. We share these with others at Sabbath School, prayer meetings, AY and sometimes with friends and family. What a wonderful way to witness!

However, we often, like the Israelites, forget the blessings and forget the works of God in our lives. When we come across new friends or acquaintances in our lives, we can be a light to others by sharing our own personal testimonies. But if we don’t remember them, our faith dwindles, our faith does not remain strong and we cannot share as easily the blessings that God has rendered unto us in our lives. We like the Israelites may turn from God because we have forgotten the God who works wonders for us.

So, I got to thinking. How did the Israelites remember the blessings of God? One way is to have specified times to recall certain events. For many people I know, they keep a thankfulness journal that they can recall the blessings of the past year on Thanksgiving. They fill in 3 to 5 items a day that they are thankful for. I like that idea, but I wanted my children to remember specific blessings from God so that their faith would be strengthened and that they could share these things more with others as a testimony of God’s goodness in their lives. In Revelation 12:17 it reads, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Do my children recognize how God is working in their own personal lives? Do they have a testimony of Jesus that they can share with others? This is what I want to build.

In the next blog post, I will share the idea of the Faith Journal with you. Perhaps you will also come up with other ideas on how to build this area as well. Be prepared to share in the comments your own ideas, tomorrow, as well!