Training Your Children to Serve God — Part Two
Sunday, October 17, 1999
Proverbs 29:15 (KJV)
15The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Many people, even highly educated ones, seem to lack wisdom or common sense. They know a lot, but it isn’t enough to help them to make a success of their lives. If we are wise parents and if we spank and instruct our children the way God tells us to, they will be wise children and we will not be ashamed of them when they are grown.
Proverbs 19:18 (KJV)
18Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
The NKJ says, “Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.” And the NIV says, “Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.” The Hebrew word tiqvah (tik-vaw') translated “hope” here, means literally, a cord (as an attachment); figuratively, expectancy. Translated in the KJV as expectation, expected, hope, live, thing that I long for. We need to bring correction into our children’s lives while there is hope for them. The younger your child is, the more hope there is.
Proverbs 13:24 (NKJ)
24He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
According to the Bible, if you love your child you will discipline him early in his life and you will not hold back from spanking him. Start correcting your children early in their lives - don’t wait until you see bad fruit before you try to bring correction. The root is the problem and the root is established when the “plant” is a seedling. In most cases, we only see the “fruit” in their teenage years which is almost too late. You must keep sowing spankings and correction and direction into their lives from babyhood and in due time you will reap the precious harvest of a soul who loves God and loves righteousness.
Proverbs 29:17 (NKJ)
17Correct your son, and he will give you rest; yes, he will give delight to your soul.
When we put the time and effort into raising our kids God’s way when they are young then we will have peace and joy in them when they are older.
Proverbs 23:24 (NKJ)
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
Wise and righteous children are not born that way - they are shaped by wise and loving parents who will raise them God’s way.
The first thing you must do, as a parent, is to love your kids with all your heart with an unconditional love. The love you show them should not be dependant on the way they are or the way they behave, but just because you love them. They must know that you still love them no matter what they do or say. That is the way God loves us and we are God’s representatives to our children.
The second thing that you must remember is that you must be the person you want your kids to be. Children are born imitators. They act just like we do. Don’t expect your kids to do the right thing if you are doing the wrong thing. No matter how many times you tell them what to do and how to do it, they are going to follow you and do what you are doing. So set a good example, because they are going to be just like you.
The third thing you must do is to never correct them in anger. Correction is done for their benefit, to equip them to live as contributing members of society. If we are angry then the focus is on us and not on them. The issue is their bad behavior and not our feelings about it. They are not being corrected because we are angry, but because they are wrong. And they need to receive correction in a spirit of repentance.
The fourth thing is that the “punishment” should fit the “crime”. Don’t over or under discipline the child. Lies and a rebellious attitude are serious problems and should be dealt with accordingly. Also, silly mistakes are not the same as deliberate sin. Don’t be severe on the child when they have only made a mistake.
The fifth thing is that you should make sure that they repent of their sin, because it is sin in God’s eyes. They need to see you allowing the Word of God to be the final authority in your life and they need to be taught to govern their lives by the Word and the Spirit of God. The Word is the answer to all of life’s situations and our children need to see us allowing God to work in our lives and allowing Him to correct and discipline us. And then they will receive correction and direction from us. When children are spanked or corrected and do not repent, they become resentful and later they become rebellious.
Always reassure them that you love them. Make sure you hug them and that they hug you back and display a forgiving attitude toward you for being the one who brought the correction. Remember God’s Word always works!
Recent:
Righteous Now
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the