A Stewardship from God
One of the most exciting and terrifying moments of life comes when you realize that this little person will one day be a big person, and that God has placed much of that outcome on your shoulders. Thankfully, no Christian parent has to wing it. God has spoken. We can parent on purpose, with a purpose, letting the Bible guide our steps and trusting the Gospel to do what we never could.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”PSALM 127:3 · KJV
Children belong to God before they belong to us. A heritage is something received and held in trust. God has not given us our children as our own. He has given them to us to steward for His glory, and every steward gives an account. That truth is sobering, and it is also freeing, because the One who entrusted this child to you loves him more than you do.
“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”EPHESIANS 6:4 · KJV
Paul gives one warning and one command. The warning concerns how we treat our children, and Discipline and Instruction takes it up. The command is bring them up. Paul's word, ektrepho, means to nourish someone to maturity. He used it a chapter earlier for the way a man nourisheth and cherisheth his own body, even as the Lord the church (Ephesians 5:29). Parenting is patient feeding and care, modeled on the way Christ treats His people. Paul speaks to fathers because God holds them responsible to lead. Mothers share the work fully: forsake not the law of thy mother (Proverbs 1:8).
A parent who aims past outward behavior at the child's love for God, leading him the way a shepherd leads sheep, with firmness, patience, and care.
Parenting is a deeply spiritual work. We are managing hearts, which is harder and slower than managing behavior. A day is coming when you will have less authority, and your child will need wisdom and a heart for Jesus in order to choose right without you.
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For Deeper Study
- Shepherding a Child's HeartAmazon Tedd TrippA widely used guide to parenting the heart and not just behavior. Reformed.
- Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your FamilyAmazon Paul David TrippParents as God's ambassadors, resting in His grace. Reformed.
- Age of OpportunityAmazon Paul David TrippA biblical guide to the teenage years as a time of opportunity. Reformed.
- Strong Fathers, Strong DaughtersAmazon Meg MeekerA pediatrician's counsel to fathers on how much their daughters need them.
- How to Raise an AdultAmazon Julie Lythcott-HaimsA former college dean on overparenting and teaching life skills. Secular; read with discernment.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Discipline and Instruction
Biblical discipline is a parent's loving correction of a child's heart, given calmly and consistently, never in anger and never to harm, so that a child learns to obey, to repent, and to know the grace of his heavenly Father.
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