Build the Bank: Nurturing and Investing in Your Children’s Mental and Emotional Wealth

Our children are one of the most precious gifts that God gives. In fact, they are distinctly referred to as the Lord’s heritage (Psalm 127:3). One of the initial charges God gave to the first humans included being fruitful, multiplying, and replenishing the earth.

Although that is not limited to the gift of family, children hold an honored place with God. Jesus esteemed children, noting their eagerness to trust, tendency toward joy, and hearts to please their parents, as a model for God’s Kingdom (Matthew 18:3-4, 19:14).

As parents, our present actions can make deposits in our children that will sustain them through what life will inevitably withdraw from their hearts. However, God has given us the responsibility and grace to arm our children against natural and spiritual threats (Proverbs 22:6).

To replenish what this world drains and depletes, we must nurture the parts of them and ourselves that establish mental and emotional wealth. Walking with God’s wisdom, we can be an example and a catalyst for them to experience wholeness in their emotions and soundness in their minds, while providing them with a stable foundation for life (2 Timothy 1:6-7).

Amid the challenges of parenting in a corrupt world, we capture glimmers of hope. In a flash, God opens our eyes to see what He sees, casting our children in a light where we glimpse a fresh view of those in our care.

It can be humbling and a potent reminder of the depth and expanse of the Father’s Love. When we have our parenting reset from a place of wonder and awe toward God, it refuels us to continue building and investing with Him to do the same with our children, yet with an elevated and eternal perspective.

Build the Bank for Mental and Emotional Wealth

Nurture their curiosity

Children are naturally curious. Their youth introduces a sense of wonder to what they encounter, especially in the area of their interests. We support our children’s growth when we nurture their inquisitive nature, bringing the Lord into the conversations that we have with one another.

Kids will say what we won’t, and ask questions about what is often considered taboo. Instead of silencing them, we can encourage their curiosity, while modeling empathy, and mobilizing compassion when they see things they dislike or don’t understand in the world.

Furthermore, children’s curiosity invites opportunities to facilitate meaningful conversations. The questions that emerge in their minds and hearts that they can’t let go of often indicate areas where God is sparking a passion for a pursuit, possibly related to purpose. Teaching our kids to engage with the God who not only knows and has all the answers but is Himself the answer, stokes their intrigue to be present and sensitive to what moves Him.

Nurture their confidence

Build your children’s love bank. Affirm your love for them by using your words and remaining consistent with positive actions. Kids who feel connected with family and have a sense of belonging have enhanced self-esteem. It may seem foreign, especially if your family of origin didn’t use the words love or was characterized by abuse and/or neglect. God is clear about saying and showing that He loves us throughout the Bible.

Often our gifts indicate where God loves to be present with us, as He shaped us with unique abilities to present back to Him. They often lead us along the path that God has predetermined. As we engage our children in various pursuits, they will gravitate toward interests. Growing their gifts and skills boosts confidence and competence in the areas where they shine.

Like the rest of creation, God intended for them to blossom as they form the character and personality traits essential to all they’ve been created to be, do, and have. As parents, we support their mental and emotional wellness by affirming and encouraging their self-esteem and a healthy sense of self, in these pursuits.

Nurture their need

We care for anything that we value and want to thrive. Similarly, we feed our children’s need to belong and feel safe. We nourish the garden of their lives by adding what’s healthy and cultivating it by removing what’s harmful. We support them with affirmation, attention, and availability. We weed out negative influences that would corrode their mental and emotional wealth, requesting God’s guidance and wisdom with our children’s seen and unseen needs.

Needs will vary from one child to the next and evolve as they progress through the seasons of their lives. Sometimes, we as parents may not be aware of how to nurture our mental and emotional health and wealth, especially if we don’t identify with or understand what our kids are facing.

However, we can inquire with the Holy Spirit for practical and spiritual direction to promote our children’s internal wealth. He will lead us, and sometimes, that includes redirecting us to other parents, social communities, or faith groups where we and our children can thrive in fellowship with others.

Nurture their faith

Family matters to the Father; otherwise, He would have never given us His own and only Son (John 3:16-17). Because He gave us His all, we can then follow suit and present our children back to Him (Romans 8:32, 12:1-2). He created them and was Father to them first. God loves them more than we ever could and cares for them better than we ever would. His investment in them, and us as their caretakers, outpaces our comprehension.

Their spiritual development, though not relegated to certain days or special “religious” settings, is an important factor in building wealth in their heads and hearts. Searching within our local sphere, we may find churches whose youth outreach promotes authentic, vibrant relationships with Christ and other kids.

We can also seek Bible-based apps or online resources that convey the life-transforming Word. Belonging to a fellowship not only ministers to our children but also our own needs. We learn to partner with the Lord to steward our parental gifts as an important facet of serving God by serving our families.

Nurture the child within

Most often, we raise our children out of the default parenting style that influenced us. Our observations and experiences imprinted scars that affect us in ways we don’t often see. Although the child within may have survived, what did we have to undo and unlearn as adults, and at what expense?

Some of those practices may not necessarily be a proper fit and could actually be damaging for the children we’ve birthed or adopted. It’s our responsibility to gather support, not only for our children but also for the child within us who may need healing. Like anything that we do with intention, nurturing our family will produce gains on the investments we’ve made from the inside out.

Nurture yourself

It is a journey to nurture our own mental and emotional wellness, so we can perpetuate that in our families. The enemy vilifies us for not being a perfect parent, but only God is the Perfect Father. He gives us His Spirit to affirm and uplift, course-correcting where necessary.

Additionally, accessible tools and resources can enhance what we do well and revise what we can change. We don’t do it alone, but between God, the community He’s made available to us, and the support of empathetic professionals, we can nurture ourselves and our children.

We must remember to reserve time for essential soul and self-care. Whether parenting alone or with a partner or spouse, our connections with other adults in our faith circle will replenish what we have poured out spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

One renowned international service organization asserts that they offer the “toughest job you’ll ever love,” but one might imagine the same for parenting. While it has great rewards, we need to ensure that we allow ourselves the space for our own mental and emotional rest along this adventure-filled parenting journey.

Next Steps

If you want to grow your children’s mental and emotional wealth, make consistent investments, where you and your children may need help and healing. Prioritize locating and meeting with a counselor while searching this site. Gathering help from an objective, yet empathetic professional provides an opportunity to enjoy the returns that come from nurturing and investing in your children’s mental and emotional wealth. Contact us today.