Parents educate your children

Psalms 145:4 “One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.”

We have a responsibility to educate the next generation - Proverbs 22:6 says; Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

In our previous article we emphasised the necessity for every parent to train their children and instil strong Christian values in them. In this lesson we are going to look at how as a parent you can shape your child and ultimately shape their future.

Christian parents are to teach and model a biblical and God centred view to their children. Why do we start with that statement?

Because Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (See also Deuteronomy 11:19)

Centuries later, Asaph says in Psalm 78:5-7 ‘For He [The Lord] established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, Even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.’

In the New Testament, Ephesians 6:1-4 says; ‘Children, obey your parents in the lord, for this is right. Honour your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’

The Biblical pattern therefore is for parents, especially fathers, to be the primary teachers and shapers of their children’s mind and heart. Parents are to impart to their children a God-centered, Bible-saturated vision for all of life. This is not simply referring to what we teach through Bible reading and prayer but it includes what we model by the example we set in front of our children. If the example we model contradicts the Bible that we are teaching then we show ourselves to be hypocrites and that’s what we teach them to become. The church also plays a part in that training but it should not be left to the church alone to educate our children because many lessons are taught in the home by example, discipline and instructions. If you are a single parent or your partner is unsaved then you will have to take the primary role to instill Christ into them.

Christianity is more than right thinking about God and His kingdom; it is also right feeling about God and His kingdom. It is developing an allegiance of loyalty to God that will remain with them when they are older. We see too many of our children when they are older leave church and turn away from God and I think it’s partly down to them not having developed a love and loyalty for Him so it’s not just education about following Jesus; it is a love and loyalty for Jesus and all that He represents.

We want the next generation to not just have heads full of facts about God; we want the next generation to have hearts that burn with fire and a love for God - hearts that will sell everything to follow Jesus.

Parenting Tip:

Teach them about love by modelling that in everything you do and say, which includes forgiveness and grace. Teach them how to express their love for God through worship and through forgiveness.

Pastor Erica Goodman