Raising Children in the Ways of the Lord

It means that we're to help them learn God's word, to help them live out their faith, which means they have to see it. More is caught than taught. Right? When they see me tell the truth, it's that's more powerful than if I just tell them to tell the truth. Does that make sense? It's not just about raising good kids or good athletes, even raising successful adults, all those those are good things. Our greatest calling is raising children who know, love, and obey Jesus. The home is the training ground for these things. Okay? God has a beautiful plan for us to have a spirit filled family. Children will learn a lot about God in kids church and at church, but only from mom and dad will they see what it means to walk with Jesus in a total life way, to be an example. [00:44:32] (66 seconds)  #FaithByExample

Obedience means this, kids. It means listening and responding, meaning doing what they say, with a willing heart. Do I have to? Right now? Clean my room? Brush my you guys see what I'm saying? Yeah. To obey means k. This obey means it's the same word that Jesus uses when it says that he told the storm to stop. Right? They're all on the boat and he comes in and he commands the storm to stop it. It says, even the winds and waves obeyed. This is the same word, kids. Jesus tells the winds and the waves to cease and they obey. They don't throw a fit. There's not one more crest, one more wave. They stop. [00:19:42] (54 seconds)  #ObeyWithAHeart

But it says in the very next verses in Luke two fifty one, it says that he went back to Nazareth and was obedient to them. Jesus obeyed his earthly parents. Woah. That's our example. Right? We can't obey. Alright. So obey and honor your parents. Act right and have the right attitude. Number two, God commands parents to discipline and instruct children. It's going to get ugly, maybe messy a little bit. I'm stepping on some toes, stepping on my own like I told you I feel ill equipped. Some people have attributed to Mark Twain this statement, When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. [00:29:11] (54 seconds)  #JesusModeledObedience

And there's a way that you can do that in still honoring them. But so we're gonna put God is the authority. We're gonna do what he tells us. Okay? He tells us to obey our parents, and so if your parents tell you to clean your room, you're gonna clean your room. Right? Yes. Okay. But if your parents tell you to go kick, you know, kick the friend on the playground, no. Right? Because God is authority. Okay? So it's not in everything that's not of the Lord. Does that make sense, Children, old and young. Right? We're going to do what God tells us to do, but there's a way that we can still honor them. Okay? And that's the attitude that we have in that. We'll talk about that. [00:23:03] (42 seconds)  #GodIsUltimateAuthority

When children honor their parents, they're showing love and obedience to God. It may be difficult. K? You might have a very strained relationship with your parents' kids. It may be you might be having a bad day. But when we when we obey our parents, we're actually we're obeying the Lord. K? Who wants to obey the Lord? I do. K? I'm glad I might be am I glad? I better not go there. I'm going stop. K. Here's the deal. You can remember this. Okay? To obey is to act right, your actions. Right? You do the thing they tell you to do. To honor is to have the right attitude. Don't complain, don't throw a fit, don't stomp your feet up the stairs. My kids aren't here, I'm telling you. Those are all the things all kids do. Right? [00:27:27] (51 seconds)  #ObeyAndHonor

So often, parents, we parent from how we were parented. Even when we're old, we don't depart from it. I'm never going to be like my father, and I'm just like him. I don't know that for me personally, but I'm never going to say, because I said so. And we say it all the time. Right? Because I'm the dad. Right? We we we we we don't depart for it. Right? Train up a child and we should go, of course, he's talking about the ways of the Lord here, but I'm we'll get to this. Okay? We need to learn who our children are and become attuned to the work that God is doing in their lives so that we don't parent from our our brokenness, but in God's healing and in his health and wholeness. [00:32:43] (50 seconds)  #BreakTheCycle

Practice makes Perfect or permanent. Right? Permanent is the one that I go with a lot. You guys are going to love this one. Okay? Kids, parents, this is really good. Why do we have them practice brushing their teeth? To be better. To be better. Yes. So that when they get up in the morning, they just brush their teeth. You don't have to tell them to go brush their teeth. Okay? We teach them to put on their shoes and tie them so that they can do that. Practice makes automatic. K? When we practice to submit children, when we practice to obey the first time, it will become automatic. You'll hear your mom's voice, Roger, and you go, yes, mom, I'm on my way. [00:40:47] (54 seconds)  #PracticeMakesPermanent

Paul continues what we talked about, these values that Jesus places on children, and he continues to share the love and care and high value that God places. Within a culture, the Roman culture, where children were devalued and fathers were harsh and even violent, even to the point sometimes of death and abandonment of their own children. Consider as this letter is written to the church in Ephesus and it's being read. It's a letter. Okay? It's not like a bible and it begets to read all that. Somebody's standing up before them and reading this, and he's presenting it to the crowd, and it circulated to other churches, and he's addressing the children. [00:18:06] (45 seconds)  #ChildrenAreValued