We all hope to be good parents &
to set our children up for success.
There are a lot of ways that we can approach parenting. And certainly in our world there is no
shortage parenting advice. The Bible has
some incredible instruction on parenting.
So based on the Bible, what is God’s viewpoint on parenting?
Children Are An
Inheritance
·
Psalms 127:3 (GODS WORD)
Children are an inheritance from the LORD.
They are a reward from him
·
The Hebrew for inheritance/gift/heritage
is nachalah (nakh·al·ä')
o
Used 223 times in the OT
o
It almost always refers to monetary
gain
·
They are God's possession, not ours
o
He has temporarily placed them under
our care
o
In effect, our children are ‘on loan’
from God
·
We are always called to be good
stewards of what God has given us
o
Matthew 25:20-21
And he who had received the five
talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you
delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master
said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over
a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
o
How can you be a good steward of this inheritance?
§ A
good steward makes the best investment
§ A
poor steward gives back what he has been given
We Discipline Who We Love
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Proverbs 3:11-12 (NIV)
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do
not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father
the son he delights in
·
Discipline = Love
o
We discipline our children because we love them
o
We want to protect them & give them wisdom
§
We’ve learned from our successes & failures
o
We want them to make good decisions when they
grow up
·
Discipline saves them from death
o
Proverbs 23:13-14 (NIV)
o
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you
punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save
them from death
§
They will not die LOL
o
You save them by building invisible guardrails
·
You don’t have to do it alone
o
We help each other raise our kids
o
We learn from & lean on each other
o
That’s what a strong biblical community does
***Jess Strait example ***
Train In The Way They Should Go
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Proverbs 22:6
Train
up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from
it
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Modeling behavior
·
Kids see & all we do & know what’s
genuine
·
We model for them & can’t fake it
***
Jacob & the Israelites example***
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It starts with scripture
o
2 Timothy 3:16-17
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All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work
o
Otherwise they will learn from the world
o
If the Word is truth, they will potentially
learn lies
·
How can you train in something you don’t know or
live by yourself?
o
This is a great reason to be in your Word
o
You don’t have to be a scholar, you can learn
alongside them