Are you a Warrior Christian? A believer parent who lives your life as if you’re on a battlefield every minute of every day? If you are, I’ve got a sobering word for you. This is totally inconsistent with how God designed us to live. We were made for a garden, not a war zone or battlefield (Gen 2:8).Despite the fact that there was a dangerous serpent in Eden, we were built to garden and raise kids, not fight. Our anointing is to cultivate and nurture; and nothing grows on a battlefield. Especially not kids.
Okay, so you don’t do war? Maybe you’re on the other side of the fence. Are you a Pleasure Christian, instead? A believer parent who lives your life as if you’re in an amusement park every minute of every day? If you are, I’ve got a sobering word for you, too. This is totally inconsistent with how God designed us to live.
Were we made to pursue pleasure, or for God’s pleasure (Rev 4:11)? When we raise children in a culture built around pleasing ourselves we set them up for a lifetime of false, unbiblical, ungodly expectations; and fail to equip them to do the primary thing, please their maker–divine and human. God doesn’t give to us without expecting us to honor Him. Parents need to model this basic relational truth in order to train their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Cultivating faith in our kids and nurturing them into maturity requires that we teach them how to honor their parents the way we honor God. The unhappiest people are those whose lives are oriented around getting. The happiest are those who live to give. This orientation ‘question’ must be settled (in all aspects of life) for us to be at peace.
How do you teach your children to honor you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
