Parenting God’s Way

Last Sunday’s sermon was on parenting.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The pastor said that effective Christian parenting is simply to mimic how God parents us. That pretty much says it all! But we have to know who God is and then grow to be like Him before we can do this.

If we look back to Ephesians 5:29 we see that Christ nourishes the church. So we are to nourish our children also. We are to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Hebrews 12:3 – 11 shows us how we are to discipline in love:

1. Selflessness in Christ - we should encourage them and love them. We should parent with them in mind: meaning understand their age limits and their point of view. If we are focused on our own perspective we expect too much from them.
2. Nourishment in the Gospel – The essential thrust of Christian parenting is evangelism. We must impart the Gospel to them. To know and follow Christ.
3. Training their character in a way that honors Christ. We should not leave them to their own devices. This needs to be an active training. No one said good parenting is easy!
4. Instruction – be an example of your instruction. If you want your child to be zealous for God you be zealous! Use everything that happens in an ordinary day to point them to God.

The pastor also listed 10 ways we provoke our children to anger. (And the Bible clearly states we are not to do this.)

1. Inconsistency
2. Physical or verbal abuse
3. Favoritism
4. Overprotection
5. Failure to sacrifice
6. Expecting too much too soon
7. Discouragement
8. Unwilling to apply God’s method
9. Pushing achievement
10. Hypocrisy in your parenting

We should be doing everything we can to make our children disciples of Christ.