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Who Did Not Know the Lord

Influencing children for Christ in this morally decadent culture is much like it was in the time of Judges, but the church can’t make the same mistakes God’s people did then (Judges 2:10-12).

I. Deuteronomy 6:6-9.  The generation that had come out of Egypt was dead, and the generation that entered the Promised Land, the oldest 59 (Numbers 14:29-32), with Joshua failed to teach their kids about God or what He had done for them though they had been told to do so.  Their excuses were probably much like ours–too busy, not enough time, etc.  If we don’t teach them, they will abandon God.

II. Proverbs 22:6.  Demas did that (2 Timothy 4:10) and loved the world instead.  We must make the gospel relevant for a new generation (Matthew 9:17).  We do this by becoming aware of the challenges kids face today and meeting them how Lois and Eunice did (1 Timothy 1:5).  With proper preparation to live for God in a fast-paced and antagonistic culture, we can help our children break the cycle of sin.

III. Matthew 15:1-3.  Far too often we hand children the gospel packaged in our traditions that worked for previous generations but are inadequate to meet the challenges of today’s world that they must survive and serve in.  When we don’t give good gifts to our kids (Matthew 7:9-11) in the form of relevant teaching and preparation, we risk them going after other things and provoking God (Hebrews 10:26-27).

I saw this recently, “The gospel sounds strange to a generation that has been told they are perfect, loving themselves is virtuous, their heart is always right, and nothing is more important than being happy.”  How must we adapt our teaching of the gospel to a new generation that thinks differently than we do because it comes from a secular mindset rather than the sacred starting point that we have known?

 

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For the Children of Your Saints

For the children of your saints we pray,
That in all things, O Lord, they might obey,
Not ever swerving to the right or left,
And never of your righteous grace bereft;

O Father, may they humbly teach their own,
Pass on the one true gospel faithfully,
Both while they’re young and even when they’re grown,
Fulfilling all their duties joyfully.

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In the Way He Should Go

My grandfather used to say, “You don’t wait until a tree is full grown until you prune it.”  When kids are bad, we blame the world, coaches, teachers, “failing schools” … or even the kids themselves.  But, rarely do we blame bad parenting.  Far too often parenting is negligent, permissive, or authoritarian, but biblical parenting is the way that our heavenly Father parents us–authoritatively, a process that, out of love, outlines the consequences for our choices but allows us to make our own choices.

I. Genesis 2:20-24.  God created parenting.  In the verses, we often use to show how marriage is between a man and a woman, the concepts of “father” and “mother” are mentioned.  How strange they must have sounded to Adam and Eve who had neither!  But, here God institutes not only marriage but the concept of family and parental roles.

II. Ephesians 6:1-4.  Children are to obey their parents in the Lord, but fathers are to instruct their children in the Lord.  Parents must actively train their children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).  The Israelites were told to do this (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) but forgot while they conquered the Promised Land with disasterous consequences (Judges 2:10-13).

III. 1 Timothy 3:4-5.  Even an elder must have parented in the style of our heavenly Father over us, so that he can shepherd Christ’s church in that same parenting style.  A kid that doesn’t accept correction brings grief to his mother (Proverbs 29:15) and breaks his mother’s heart (Proverbs 15:20).  Rather, when a child does not turn from the way he was trained (Proverbs 23:25), he brings joy!

This is a difficult topic as no matter our kids’ ages, we realize we all have made mistakes in parenting that we regret.  Where it is not too late, we can change.  Where it is, we can apologize.  But, there are still kids in our lives (in the church especially) over which God has given us influence.  How’s your example?  How are you training the children in your life?

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Illustration: Three stooges and three stewards

Over on The Fellowship Room, Eugene Adkins shares this good illustration from the mouth of a child:

A few days ago I decided to sit down with my four-year-old daughter and show her some Three Stooges videos. She’s a fan now. The first thing out of her mouth was, “Why isn’t there any color?” The last thing was, “I want to watch the 3 Stewards again.” I can think of a Bible lesson about 3 stewards where one acted like a stooge. Can you? Here’s a hint (Matthew 25:14-30).

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Bless our children

Bless our children, heavenly Father, with an overpowering desire to love and serve you. We wish so many good things for them, but above all we desire that they be faithful and obedient, devoted in their hearts to be like the Lord Jesus Christ and serving in the spirit of humility. Continue reading “Bless our children”