Raising kids who love Jesus can’t be something we just “HOPE THEY PICK UP”
- It is important to leave it up to chance
Not trying to raise “Cultural Christians”
- You are NOT born “CHRISTIAN”
- But into a Christian family
Each person must CHOOSE to follow Jesus of their own desires and will
To raise children who love Jesus requires parental discipline, intentionality, and guidance.
How?
Where You aim your kids is usually where they will usually go
Psalm 127
3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Things we use to aim our children:
- Values (What We Believe )
- Priorities (What We Focus on)
- Attitudes (How you respond)
1: Values: What We Should Believe
A Mindset
Why are values important?
Values form the way we think, act and respond
Christian values are the principles that a follower of Jesus Christ holds as the MOST IMPORTANT—the principles of life that Jesus taught.
- Christian values don’t change over time
- They are consistent from generation to generation since their foundation is found in God’s Word
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Christian Values should be taught primarily in two (2) places:
- The Home (MOST IMPORTANT)
- The Church
Examples of Christian Values
1: God’s commandments guide my reality.
2: There is design and purpose in creation.
3: The image of God defines humankind.
4: God determines the value of life.
5: Feelings have value but don’t define truth.
6: God decides who and what I am.
7: Love for God and others is paramount.
8: God’s approval matters most.
Values form the foundation of the CHARACTER of our children
- And thus, our society
Jesus famous “Sermon On The Mount”
- He was teaching on the values of GOD’S KINGDOM
Matthew 7
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
Not only do we teach our children Christian values, but we must also teach them to RECOGNIZE and DISCERNworldly values
On a very general level, we can say that Christian values emphasize the importance of the invisible, the intangible, the spiritual, and the eternal, whereas the world tends to major in things that are material, measurable, temporal, and advantageous to one’s own interests. ~ Focus on the Family
Worldly Values:
1: Personal agenda guides my reality.
2: The world is random, meaning is personal.
3: Humanity “creates” itself.
4: Life is valuable as it relates to me.
5: Personal feelings define reality.
6: I choose my own identity.
7: Profit and self-interest come first.
8: Social approval is all-important.
Living with worldly values leads to a hollow, selfish, unfulfilled life that lacks joy, empathy, and purpose
- Self-centered
- Always changing
- Create anxiety and tension
Back to children being arrows…
Again – Values: What We Should Believe
2: PRIORITIES: Where we put our Focus
How we demonstrate a mindset
Here’s the difference between VALUES and PRIORITIES
Values are learned through teaching, while priorities are demonstrated by actions
- Priorities are the working out of your values
This means that you can TEACH your kids the right VALUES, but never DEMONSTRATE how those values by having the wrong priorities
<EXAMPLES>
1: Value is: God’s approval matters most
Priority is: I’m gonna do what I want when I want
You recognize the right value, but your priority is yourself and your own desires
2: Value is: Love for God and others is paramount
Priority is: What you need comes first unless it’s convenient
Your true priority is to take the selfish easy road
This is what the Scripture is talking about when it says…
Psalm 22:6
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
1st, not a promise that kids will do what you hope/want them to
- They often duplicate what they’ve seen demonstrated
As parents, we are to DEMONSTRATE the RIGHT priorities so as to help our kids have their best chance at being people who love Jesus and His kingdom
3: Attitudes: How We Respond
Philippians 2
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
Philippians 2 (MSG)
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Life IS hard
Your kids WILL:
- Have their hearts broken
- Be disappoint
- Experience Loss
- Be stressed out
- Experience shame and embarrassment
- This is just part of being human on this side of eternity
The truth about attitudes
You have to PRACTICE good attitudes
- It doesn’t often come natural
Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Paul is speaking in a way that of CONSCIENCE ACTION
- Purposeful, not accidental
Choose to PRACTICE PROPER ATTITUDES
Nobody touches my thermostat
As parents, See yourself as the Thermostat in your home
- They are a GIFT from God
- No one gets to set the temperature/atmosphere of your home
Setting the Atmosphere of your home
- Values you teach
- Priorities you demonstrate
- Attitudes you Practice
Raising your kids with this understanding is the best way to…
Raise Kids Who Love Jesus
Prayer over our kids
Our Father in Heaven, we recognize that our kids are a gift from you. That you have ENTRUSTED them to us; their lives, hearts, minds, and their future. We know that you have plans for them, great plans, far better than our own.
Father, first, we repent of the ways in which we fall short as parents. This life is full of so many distractions and unnecessary things. Sometimes it is so easy for us to lose sight of what is really important and how quickly time moves. Help us to pay better attention. Help us to see our kids for who they are and how much they mean to you. Forgive us for having too short of tempers, too many distractions, and sometimes, just too little time for them. Also, help my relationship with you grow stronger so that I can be who I need to be for them
Next, Father, we pray for YOUR protection over our kids. This world moves so fast, and it seems like so many new things are thrown at them regularly. But we trust that you can protect them. We pray what Paul said to Timothy, his spiritual son, in his second letter, where he says, “And I am sure that he is able to protect what he has trusted me with until that Day.” Father, we believe that. That you are ABLE. You are able to guide them, protect them, and show them your will. We ask that you protect their minds from worldly values. Protect them from harmful ideas. Bring the right friends into their lives. And show them your purpose for them and let them know that you love them
Lastly, we ask that You give us the strength and the wisdom to raise them in such a way that they know Jesus your son, and give their heart to him. Help us to teach them your values, demonstrate the right priorities, and practice Godly attitudes. Help us where we fall short and give us wisdom that we often don’t have. We trust you and know that you have chosen OUR kids to be the leaders of the future. Help us get them ready. AMEN.