{"id":97440,"date":"2026-08-21T10:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=97440"},"modified":"2026-08-21T10:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:49:06","slug":"when-your-child-has-doubts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-your-child-has-doubts\/","title":{"rendered":"When Your Child Has Doubts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Nathan Ward<br \/>\nvia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@watchinlight\">InLight Media<\/a>\n<p>What should you do when your child starts questioning their faith? For many Christian parents, a child expressing doubts can feel scary. But what if those questions aren&#8217;t something to shut down-but something to welcome?<\/p>\n<p>In this conversation, Dr. Nathan Ward talks about how Christian parents can respond when their children have doubts, difficult questions, or uncertainty about faith. Rather than panicking or trying to answer everything right away, we explore why parents should create a safe place for their children to think, ask questions, and be honest about what they believe.<\/p>\n<p>He discusses:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why your child bringing their doubts to you can actually be a sign of trust.<\/li>\n<li>How parents can avoid shutting down difficult questions.<\/li>\n<li>Why asking questions can be part of developing a genuine, personal faith.<\/li>\n<li>How parents can respond when they don&#8217;t know the answer.<\/li>\n<li>The difference between blind faith and an informed faith.<\/li>\n<li>How parents and children can explore difficult questions together.<\/li>\n<li>Why Christian parents should encourage their children to think deeply about their faith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your child is questioning their faith-or you simply want to be better prepared for those conversations-this is an important conversation for Christian parents. The goal isn&#8217;t to have an answer for every question. It&#8217;s to create a relationship where your children know they can bring their hardest questions to you.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"When Your Child Has Doubts...\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OtelDfszqzY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Nathan Ward via InLight Media What should you do when your child starts questioning their faith? For many Christian parents, a child expressing doubts can feel scary. But what if those questions aren&#8217;t something to shut down-but something to welcome? In this conversation, Dr. Nathan Ward talks about how Christian parents can respond when&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1034,1488],"tags":[665,1569,29,1173,107,395],"class_list":["post-97440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teenager","category-video","tag-child-rearing","tag-doubts","tag-parenting","tag-questions","tag-raising-children","tag-teenagers"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-he-is-wrong-what-does-the-christian-miss\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":0},"title":"If He is Wrong, What Does the Christian Miss?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ancil Jenkins Doubt is a subtle demon. It creeps in at times of distress, pain, and fear. Doubting is not sinful; failing to act on doubts is. Honesty demands an examination and a resolution of doubts. As one examines doubts, his heart is comforted. The truth will silence doubts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/doubt-300x214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":97134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/authenticating-ones-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":1},"title":"Authenticating One&#8217;s Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by James P. Needham via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, 1996 Should young people go through life accepting what parents and teachers have taught them, or should they, through honest questions and serious study, authenticate their own faith, making it their own? Should we encourage questioning, or resent them, feeling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adolescence&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13858,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-should-i-handle-a-child-that-badgers-me-all-the-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":2},"title":"How should I handle a child that badgers me all the time?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How should I handle a child that badgers me all the time? I found an article and wanted to know what you think. The article said, When a child resorts to badgering, the goal is to wear the parent down in order to change the no answer to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Childhood&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":3},"title":"What If &#8230;?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Leach via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 9, No. 11, November 2009 I am familiar with a situation wherein a young female college student became pregnant out of wedlock. This young Christian and her parents experienced a range of emotions unlike any others in their lifetime. It has now been more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50006,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/anchor-points\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":4},"title":"Anchor Points","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer With so many reports of people losing their faith, we might wonder if there is anything to hold onto to anchor us down when we have doubts, questions, and deep concerns. We must not be dismissive of concerns, but allow the questions to be asked, never thinking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anchor-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-parent-spank-a-teenage-athlete\/","url_meta":{"origin":97440,"position":5},"title":"How can a parent spank a teenage athlete?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have read some of the responses to Christian parents questions on spanking their children and teenagers. Many of my friends have trouble with their teenagers and often think of using it. The thing is what would a parent do with a teenager who is athletic, a soccer player,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}