YOUR PARENTING REALLY MATTERS
Proverbs 4:20 NLT
Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully. Don’t lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they will bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning.
Proverbs 7:1 NLT
Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey them and live. Guard my teachings as your most precious possession.
When was the last time you thought of yourself and what you teach your children as a precious possession to treasure? Do you really, seriously believe your instructions to your children are as vital to their lives as these verses imply? Do you actually believe what you’re teaching to your children right now should be guarded as their most valuable possession? Do you believe what you are teaching your children will bring them life, and radiant health?
I venture to say most probably don’t. Most parents do not see themselves as being this vital and important to their children’s success in life. As Christian parents, we easily miss the implication of these verses, which directly imply how strategically vital and important what a parent teaches their children is to their lives, their faith, their future and their success. We must not miss this! We must think as highly of ourselves and what we teach our children, as Solomon thought of himself, and his teachings and writings to his children, in Proverbs.
This essential perspective was absolutely critical to my wife and I as we raised our children. We knew before God, it was our privilege, our sacred responsibility to teach them and train them well. Looking back on those years, I often marvel at how seriously my wife took her mothering. She was always, every day, multiple times during the day, teaching the children something, in some situation, some form of communicating, through her words, her example, her life, instructing them, encouraging them, training them and shaping their lives and their faith. It was her passionate, full-time vocation. My wife never deviated from this focus. There were, of course, no smartphones back in our day, but there were phones, and oh how many mom’s loved to talk on their phone to their friends, often to the neglect of their parenting duties. My wife did not. She never allowed the phone or outside relationships to become a distraction from her attentiveness in teaching and training our children. My wife didn’t allow herself to be drawn away from her prime objective of teaching and training our children. Not church ministry, not relationship with friends, not hobbies, nothing ever pulled her away from her sacred mission.
On one particular occasion I was in a large meeting with a gathering of pastors when the topic of teenagers and teen groups came up. Many were advocating the need for a great, church teen group, as they were convinced without one, their own children would suffer. I remember sharing this with those men. “Brothers, there is nothing wrong with having a good teen group in your church, but I personally don’t need one to insure my children will follow Christ, to insure they’re taught the vital lessons they need to learn. Why? Because that’s my job, that’s my wife’s job and we are totally committed to it, 100%!” Silence. You could have heard a pin drop. They were stunned that I’d say such a thing. Some thought it was arrogant. Some strongly disagreed. But I knew it was simply a statement of fact, based on the God given responsibility and calling God has given to us as parents. I truly believed in my heart of hearts, that what my wife and I taught our children (and, of course, what we taught them was Biblical and Biblically based) was as valuable, to be treasured, as anything Solomon taught to his children.
This my friends, is how we need to think. This is what we need to believe. This is how we must parent our own children. Am I saying they can’t learn from others? Of course not. Am I saying they can’t learn from their own reading and study? Of course not. I am saying we cannot rely on that. We cannot outsource our parenting, or hire others to do it. Certainly wonderful people in our lives will make valued contributions to our children’s lives. I am very grateful for all who did along our journey raising our children. That was icing on the cake. Not the cake itself! What we did was the cake!
Proverbs 6:20 NLT
My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s teaching!
I ask you to please, please, listen to this powerful message – The Duty of Parents.
https://strongdisciple.com/
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
