Dealing with Doubt, Lesson 1: Belief and Unbelief

Dear parents,

Adolescence is a natural period of questioning—a time when, as part of growing up, our children often scrutinize, re-examine, and sometimes even reject values and ideas they’ve held since childhood. This is especially true when it comes to matters of faith.

We’ve launched a new series titled “Dealing With Doubt.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll explore together several critical encounters Jesus had with individuals who were doubting, questioning, confused, or hurting. In this first lesson, we discussed the importance of honestly acknowledging spiritual questions in our lives.

This week, I encourage you to spend a few minutes talking with your teenager about our lesson. Share openly about an experience of doubt or questioning in your own life. What questions or issues made it difficult for you to believe or were confusing and hard to understand?

Also, consider building a conversation around these questions:

  • What positive role do you think doubt can play in our lives? in our faith?
  • Do you have any doubts or spiritual questions that you’d like to talk about?

Be intentional about creating an environment of “patient listening” rather than “quick convincing.” If your teenager is able to speak honestly about real questions, he or she will take greater courage in being candid with Jesus about those questions, too.