Godly Parenting: The Word vs. The World-Helping Our Children Know the Difference

 

Last summer at a children’s birthday party my three-year-old son pretended to be a pirate along with the five-year-old honoree and a gang of other children. The birthday boy and my son really like each other and play well together when they get the chance, but this was not our usual crowd. Earlier this year I had helped the mother with one of her community projects and had babysat her son a few times. I was drawn to helping this single woman any way that I could, including praying daily for her salvation. I didn’t want to miss the party, so I dressed Nathaniel in a pirate’s outfit and suited myself with the armor of God, not knowing what conversations I would encounter.

Two very warm women—a Muslim and a follower of what she calls “oneness”—found their way to me and we talked about marriage. The Muslim was divorced and the other woman a predetermined single mother. They challenged traditional notions of marriage, including the man being the head of the house, with one saying her friends who have an open marriage “are one of the happiest couples I know.” Without attacking, I simply said many people misunderstand the Christian standard of submission and leadership and don’t realize that the husband is called to a sacrificial love, to put his desires secondary and those of his family first (Ephesians 5:23-29). The standard for the Christian husband as leader is Jesus Christ, not male domination. With quiet contemplation, they stared at me as if they had just heard a new idea, an idea that springs from the knowledge that the Apostle Peter talks about in 1:5, knowledge that we must teach our children.

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Raising Children of Virtue: Modeling Is Our Strongest Weapon

Photo Courtesy of Sherwood Pictures Ministry, Inc. from "Courageous" the Movie

My heart was simply thrilled when I saw “Courageous,” the new blockbuster Christian feature film that chronicles the lives of five men and their challenge to be courageous. Though this movie centers on men, the women and children in their lives learn just what courageous should look like by witnessing their husbands and fathers. Watching “Courageous” made me think of the seven qualities of a strong believer in 2 Peter 1 and how modeling may be our strongest weapon in helping our children achieve for themselves virtue, the first quality in the list.

The definition of virtue in 2 Peter 1:5 is “courage, fortitude, resolution” and many people, including youths, lack this. Though some are born with virtue, others aren’t, so this is something we must teach or cultivate in our children so they will stand firm on God’s word. They need virtue in our day where everything seems relative, children are largely indifferent, and social media helps develop and destroy trends and friends with lightening speed.

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Children's Life Insurance: Leaving Behind the Spiritual Kind

Bi-weekly column by Rhonda J. Smith

I don't think a week goes by without my 9 year old saying "I love this house. I don't ever want to leave it." While I gush about the love and safety he feels that makes him declare a desire for eternal rooting, he doesn't know that my husband and I are preparing for his exit. If you ask Flynn, he knows exactly how many years, down to the exact months, when he believes Joshua should be ready to take flight. Though I have no plans to have a 30 year old living in my basement, I'm less occupied with thoughts about the day when Joshua should be on his own. But together we make sure Joshua and his brothers know basic life skills and impart in them spiritual principles so they can make it on their own.

People keep telling me that though I'm preparing my sons to leave the nest I should also prepare for them to return; the second living wave is inevitable, they say. Of course if my children get a bad break they are welcome to return, but we're doing all we can to break their dependence on us. Plus after we’re dead, coming back to live with us or seek us for guidance will not be an option. Above physical life insurance we must prepare spiritual life insurance for our children for when we pass away. This way we ensure they know how to seek God and His Kingdom, knowing that He will add to that whatever else they need (Matthew 6:33).

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