Power Point - June 13, 2005
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. -- Psalm 127:4
We have approximately twenty short years with our children to accomplish the goal of training and instructing them in the proper way. Then, we launch them off and see the faith pass from generation to generation as we conform to both parent and grandparent over the years.
It doesn’t quite seem fair, does it? About the time you make it through parenting during the teenage years and they start talking to you again, they leave home. It’s a hard job being a parent…one of the toughest in the world. But it is God’s command and mission for you to train your children up whether you choose to accept it or not. Even when your children grow up and leave home, they will still count on you for wise counsel and prayers.
Paul gives three commands or challenges for parents in Ephesians 6:4:
- We are to build our children up. Don’t provoke your child to anger, but instead be a positive parent. If they are going to succeed, they need you cheering them on.
- We are to train up our children. The word he uses here is to discipline—to build up the child in the nurture and discipline of the Lord. We are to encourage them when they do well, and discourage them from doing wrong (see 1 Samuel
- We are to instruct them. This literally means to give them verbal instruction for the heart and mind. The Bible says, “For as he thinks in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
Do your children or grandchildren know the fundamentals of faith? These non-negotiable fundamentals include the nature of God and who He is, who Christ is and what He has done, the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit, the divine authority and inerrancy of the Word of God, the depravity of man, and the need for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Do you yourself possess a vital, living faith? Moms, dads, and grandparents, this must come from you first. If you will give your children and grandchildren these roots by building them up, training them up, and instructing them in the way of the Lord, then one day they will grow up and fly right.
GIVE YOUR CHILDREN THE PROPER ROOTS
AND WHEN THEY GET READY TO FLY, THEY WILL SOAR.
