PARENTING

Tomorrow morning I will begin teaching a class on parenting at Believers Fellowship. I do so realizing that this can be a very emotional subject. In fact the emotions of parents can run from the extreme of great joy to the other extreme of profound grief. Children are a gift from the Lord and while they are a good gift, they also are a big responsibility. And while at times, especially when you have small children, it seems like the task of parenting is slow and tedious, yet when you get to my stage in life and you look back, you realize that the time went by very quickly. The picture above is of my three grown sons and my incredibly handsome grandson. My question is, "How did I ever get old enough to be the father and grandfather of these guys?"

So, what can I offer the parents in our church that will help them to make the most of the time that they have with their children? I certainly don't claim to have any kind of expertise in this area. I definitely don't have any kind of formula that is guaranteed to raise godly children. But what I do have is the Word of God and that is what I will open up and teach from.

I think many parents would benefit by thinking of parenting in terms of discipling. After all we are to "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4)." That's discipling. In 1Corinthians 4:14-21, Paul describes his discipleship relationship with the Corinthians in terms of a father and his children. In that passage you can see that Paul admonished, loved, set an example, taught, and corrected the Corinthians. If parents would do these things, thinking in terms of discipling their children, pointing them to the Lord, then they can be sure they are making the most of their time. This doesn't guarantee that it will be easy or "successful" but you can be sure that you are pleasing the Lord by being faithful and useful to Him.

I would encourage you to pray today for some parents you know that the Lord would encourage them as they seek to disciple the children He has entrusted to them.