In The Brown household, training to implement Godly character in our lives is a daily task. Many people consider this a good option, some may not follow this type of character at all, however for us it is a necessity and a way of life. We as parents strive to teach, disciple, and train our children in the way they should go. We don't claim to be perfect and we have made many mistakes, however we do make every effort to live by a few scriptures in growing in the LORD together. In this post we will share some of the scriptures we live by as Christian parents.
Proverbs 22:6 tells parents to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The meaning behind this verse is critical for us as parents to realize. The Hebrew word for "Train up" is chânak which means "to train; to dedicate; to discipline" (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions - 1906; Strong's Bible Dictionary - 1890). Wow, what a responsibility just in two words parents have. Parents are not only called, but commanded to dedicate themselves in the training of their children for the LORD. God has blessed us with children in order to train them up to know The Way, The Truth, and The Life which is only in Jesus Christ (John 14:6)! So how do we accomplish this exactly?
First, parents must have their hearts tuned to God above all else. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." This clearly shows us that we cannot even begin to train our children in a Godly way unless we first have a personal relationship with God and it all begins with our heart! We must be saved from our sins through repentance to Jesus Christ in order for our hearts to be cleansed from this wicked world. Then with all of our soul and might, we must strive to serve the LORD and part of that is training our children in a Godly way!
Second, parents must be willing to overcome their own selfish ways. Due to our inherited sinful nature from Adam in the Garden of Eden, we are born selfish people. We start out in life only caring about what we want. Sadly, this character trait follows us into adulthood and many times influences our decisions as parents. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." In order to properly train our children for the LORD, we must deny ourselves. We must realize that we cannot always have what we want and train our children properly at the same time. We must strive to be a servant at heart and in serving make training our children in a Godly way the next priority after our own training and spiritual growth.
Third, as stated above in Luke 9:23, parents must "...take up our cross daily." Training our children is going to be burdensome at times and it will feel like we are not going to make it. We must remember though that many times, when there is no pain, there is no gain. We are fighting a spiritual battle every day this side of eternity and we cannot expect training our children to come easy. We are fighting for our own selfish spirit as well as the selfish spirit of our children. Also, Jesus said we would have trials and temptations, but He promised that those who endure until the end shall be saved (Matthew 24:13).
Fourth, parents must follow Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." This can be applied in so many situations in life, however as a parent, we need to be fishermen after our children's heart, soul, and mind through following Jesus Christ. We must rely on Jesus Christ every day and every hour in order to effectively train our children in THE WAY they should go. There is a song that goes, "I catch 'em, God cleans 'em, I bate the hook with the love of the Kingdom, I've been called to be a fisher of men. I catch 'em, God cleans 'em, Heaven knows He saves every soul that believes Him, I real 'em in and He washes away their sin." We need to show our children a love for the Kingdom of God and with hope and prayer that they will be saved. This is our ultimate task as parents. It will only be by the Grace of God that we can accomplish this.
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