These are my rambling notes from a sermon I heard on Sunday March 2nd, 2008 at my church at Long Island Baptist. It was preached by Pastor John Graf:
Good parenting is not done by accident or happenstance. Good parenting is carefully calculated and strategically planned to bring our children to an expected end. A child by nature is rebellious, disobedient, deceitful lustful and altogether undone. (Mark 7:20) This nature is embedded in the heart and must be dealt with dutifully. Begin by teaching obedience to parental authority. If a child is taught to obey, he will please his parents. He is taught to abstain from sin and avoid fleshly lusts and flee from vice by teaching him obedience to God and His will.
This is done by planting the seeds of obedience. But just planting is not enough. It is the nurture and loving hands of guidance that rescue our children from the grips of rebellion and pride. By capturing our children's hearts and subduing them, we can then bring the child into obedience to Jesus Christ. The heart is captured by building the bridge of relationships that so many miss. These bridges are the ties that bind. It takes work and dedication and determination in the face of great difficulty to accomplish these lofty goals of relationship building. These bonds of relationships grow stronger with memories built and impressions made on young hearts that trigger hurt and heartache when the bond is broken by mistrust and unresolved issues. It takes dedication to prayer for our children. It takes determination to do whatever it takes to bring our children to an expected end.
Parents are not just babysitters. We are to be about the Father's business by forming and guiding our children to be above the norm. As an archer that forms his arrows so must we as parents form our children to fly straight and true. (Psalm 127:4) The arrows are to be aimed with precision and accuracy to hit the target. This is done by relating to our children in the most attentive and careful way. The arrow does not care how pretty the feathers are. Only that they are located and formed right. Children do not want us to buy them stuff. They want attention. My children want ME! Backyard baseball and hobbies and sports, reading a book and playing a game are all activities not wasted on our children.
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3 comments:
Sounds like it was a great message. Those are some great principles for child rearing. Thanks for posting this.
Excellent post! It reminded me of:
(Deu 6:7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
(Deu 6:8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
(Deu 6:9) And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Thank you for posting this, Bro. Scott!
All of us need to hear more and more of this today. And not only do we need to be hearers of the word, but doers.
God has blessed my wife and me with 2 children, a 16 year old boy [a young man, now] and a "soon to be" 12 year old girl. My wife and I always wanted a "big" family, but she had complications that kept her from having any more children. We have never been angry or bitter about that, even though we've had those brethren around us look down upon us because we weren't very "spiritual" with just 2 kids...anyway...
I love my 2! They are God's heritage! My greatest desire is that they both would honor, glorify, and live for God today and all the days of their life. And when I read what you've posted it just reminds me again that I have a direct influence in seeing those prayers of mine answered in my children.
Again, thank you for the post!
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