Article 3: The Privilege of PARENTING – By Mark Worden
When I set out to learn from the Bible how to be a parent I first learned from Proverbs 22:6 that our goal in parenting is to start our children on the pathway of developing godly character throughout their lives. It is fine to have a goal, but after that one needs to be committed to the means of accomplishing the goal. My next step was coming up with a practical way of implementing that goal.
Our commitment in parenting is to teach our children what God has taught and is teaching us through His natural revelation (creation) and His special revelation (The Bible).
From Deuteronomy 11:18 we learn that we need to teach our children daily in all the activities of life which God gives to us:
“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
First, to teach our children about God, we need to be growing in our relationship with the Lord on a daily basis. We need to be responding to God’s means of communicating Himself to us. Psalm 19 makes it very clear that there is much that we can learn and teach about God through His natural revelation and His special revelation.
I love what Psalm 19:7-8 says about what the Bible will do for us when we allow it to do its work. It will bring salvation, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” It will bring wisdom, “The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” It will bring joy, “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.” It will bring discernment, “The commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes.” We would not think of asking our children to skip meals on a regular basis. We feed them daily, often more than 3 times a day. But how often do we neglect to lead them to God’s banqueting table because we have neglected to feast ourselves on the Word of God that is our spiritual bread of life? May God help us to feast on the Word of God and share with our children so that we as families can rejoice in God’s salvation, wisdom, joy, and discernment.
Second, we need to be working not to forget what God has done in our lives and taught us over the years. Therefore, it is good to have special times to remember (memorials) what God has done incorporated into family traditions and during the special times of the year–birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Christmas, etc. We need to learn from God’s warning to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 4: 9. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.” Psalm 105:5 says, “Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.” God Himself established certain memorials throughout the year for the children of IsraelOne special tradition that had been passed down to our family from my father-in-law is the reading of the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas day. I want to continue the tradition in my family by continuing the practice and creating more special times of remembering what God has done for us for the next generation.
May God grant us grace to pass on our faith not only to our children but to our children’s children if the Lord should tarry.
Copyrighted 2002
Magnify! 