One of the most treasured relationships in an individual’s life is his or her relationship with a grandparent. While the role of a grandparent will look different from family to family, grandparents are an integral part of the family experience.
Increasingly, the role of “grandparenting” is under stress, including in the state of Alabama. According to an article featured in Grand Magazine in September of last year, “there are about 59,000 grandparents in Alabama who are fully responsible for raising their grandchildren. Nearly 160,000 children live in homes where a relative is head of household. These figures show this is not a rare situation—it’s a growing one, and one that warrants understanding and support.”[1]
The University of Alabama has also recently conducted research to document the negative effects of the stress grandparents take on as the main caregivers for their grandchildren. In an article entitled, How much grandparenting is too much grandparenting? researchers have concluded that grandparents who are heavily involved in the caregiving of their grandchildren actually experience poorer health outcomes.[2]
Multiple studies document that the opioid crisis is a rising contributor in grandparents choosing to raise their grandkids. According to a recent article featured by NPR in October 2024 entitled A new way to support grandparents raising kids affected by the addiction epidemic, “48% of foster care entries [in Alabama] list parental substance abuse as the reason for children entering the system.”[3]
“The bond between a child and a grandparent is the purest, least psychologically complicated form of human love,” says Dr. Arthur Kornhaber who is a physician and child psychiatrist. He claims that grandparents can offer an emotional safety net when parents falter.
With these sobering realities in mind, I would argue that role of a grandparent has never been more important. Here’s God’s perspective on grandchildren: Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers (Proverbs 17:6).
So grandparents, what do your grandchildren need from you? To those of us who aren’t yet grandparents, what do our future grandchildren need from us? For those who are not grandparents, and in the providence of God may not naturally come by that role, what can you do for future generations?
God wants you to positively influence your grandchildren; and you can do so with inspiration, insight, and inheritance. In this post, let’s tackle inspiration.
From 2 Timothy 1:3-5, I learn that God wants grandparents to inspire their grandchildren with an authentic Christian testimony. Consider these verses:
[3] I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; [4] Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; [5] When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. – 2 Timothy 1:3-5
God wants you to positively influence your grandchildren.
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Paul is communicating here that grandmother Lois was serious about having an authentic relationship with Jesus before Timothy came on the scene – she wasn’t waiting for when she became a grandmother to get serious about God, it dwelt in her first. Lois started a legacy of faith in her family. Be encouraged, if you are the first in your family to begin a legacy of faith, don’t feel disadvantaged. You have the opportunity, with God working through you, to leave a legacy of faith for your grandchildren because of how you choose to live for God today.
Consider these quotes as you contemplate your opportunity and responsibility as a grandparent to inspire your grandchildren with authentic faith in Jesus.
Apparently Lois, Timothy’s grandmother, was the first one in the family won to Christ; then his mother, Eunice, was converted. Timothy’s father was a Greek (Acts 16:1), so Eunice had not practiced the orthodox Jewish faith. However, Timothy’s mother and grandmother had seen to it that he was taught the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15), and this was great preparation for the hearing of the gospel. – Warren Wierbse
Young Timothy needed the strong spiritual roots provided by his mother and grandmother. And young people today, facing those same tensions, need godly parents and grandparents to help their own roots go deep so that they might withstand the storms of everday life. – Jay Kesler
Truly, grandchildren need to be inspired by authentic faith that dwells first in their grandparents. What an opportunity to influence the generations to come! Does that genuine faith in Jesus dwell in you today?
[1] https://www.grandmagazine.com/2025/09/grandparents-raising-grandchildren-in-alabama-challenges-support-and-practical-guidance/
[2] https://www.uab.edu/news/research-innovation/how-much-grandparenting-is-too-much-grandparenting-study-explores-effects-of-grandparenting-on-health#:~:text=However%2C%20researchers%20at%20the%20University,Women
[3] https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/10/15/nx-s1-5149347/opioid-funds-grandparents-addiction-epidemic-alabama
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