This doesn’t specifically apply to courtship, as we’ve been discussing, but really it is at the heart of everything–including preparing our children for marriage.
A friend of mine relayed the message in a sermon she recently heard that encouraged me.
The pastor challenged the parents of his huge congregation to consider what they were investing in their children.
“Many of you pour your time, your money and your energy into teaching your sons how to play baseball or, fill in the blank. You do everything you can to make sure he’s the best–but he doesn’t know Christ or a thing about what the Scriptures say about his life.”
How many parents are guilty of trying to meet the pressures of what culture says is important, giving very little thought to discipling their children?
Who is defining *successful* for us? So many call themselves Christians, but do not regard God’s Word as the instruction manual for daily life. What does the Bible say about what’s important? About parenting? About what makes a person successful?
A true Christ-follower will take the words of Scripture and apply them to all areas of life. Following Christ changes everything we do. Our perspective, our goals, our methods, our decisions.
And as it applies to parenting, nothing we do even competes with our responsibility to disciple, teach the fear of the Lord, and impart Scriptural truth to our children. If we’re not doing that, we’re not being obedient to the Word of God.
I don’t want to get into theology here, but one of the most dangerous ideologies, in my opinion, in the church is the “raise your hand if you prayed the prayer” message. “Whew, I’m glad that’s over, now I can relax”. This is the thinking of many Christian parents.
Salvation is not a singular event that we are responsible for ensuring in our children. Salvation belongs to the Lord. We are only given the command to disciple them intensely. They must be grown up in the Word with a vigilant pursuit of righteousness. Real men and women of God don’t just appear after a prayer. They are made through the day in, day out, hearing, seeing, breathing, living and seeking God’s Word in every area of life. Just as Jesus daily walked beside his disciples pointing all of life back to Scripture, so must we with those He has given us to disciple. This is our only job that matters.
So he’s good at baseball–there is nothing wrong with that. But does he have a heart that follows hard after the things of God? Do whatever it takes to get him there.
After taking a “school break” this summer during the end of my pregnancy and while we adjusted to a new little one, though we don’t really ever consider ourselves in or out of school, I’m eager to add more motivation to our days soon. And though we usually school year-round, I know many homeschoolers begin in August and so I’m eager to post some inspirational and practical homeschool help over the next few weeks.
