Raising children is like concocting a magic potion. Throw the list of ingredients into the cauldron at the proper time and—BOOM—out springs a godly, successful adult. Here’s the list of ingredients. I plagiarized them from Martha Stewart’s not-yet-published Christian cookbook, Sanctified Living.
- Ingest What to Expect When You Are Expecting. It will give you strength to stir the pot for the next twenty years.
- Enjoy Babywise for desert. Put that little sinner on a schedule and don’t let him be king of the house![1]
- Take your kids to Sunday School at an early age and any children’s program offered by your church.
- Put your kids in Christian school or homeschool them to avoid the ungodly influence of public schools.
- Trot your kids off to youth group weekly, but be sure they sit in the adult services on Sundays to hear the preaching of God’s Word.
- Monitor their social media intake or ban it like the tyrant you are.
- Panic about whether the godless atmosphere of a secular university or the less-than-spiritual friends at a Christian college will destroy their faith.
What Is Missing Here?
Wait, wait, wait! Do you see what is missing here (besides perhaps a more appropriately serious demeanor for this important topic)? This ingredient is missing from a shockingly high percentage of Christians families and may be the one, most critical factor in raising godly children—regular family devotions led by parents modeling a mature walk with God.
You may disagree with me regarding schooling options. You may take a different approach to social media than I would. However, if you abandon to others your God-given responsibility as a Christian parent to train your children spiritually, the chances of your children growing up to be mature believers decrease dramatically.
Who Is Spiritually Leading Your Children?
Christian parent, you are God’s chosen ally for molding children into strong believers before they are thrust into a broken and corrupt world. Yes, your church, your pastor, the school, and even possibly social media play a role, but the front line for raising a godly generation is parents who spend time with their children every day.
What tool does God give for this monumental task? He gives His Word applied daily over long periods of time. Who should be first and most frequent in bringing the Word of God into a child’s life? The parents, especially the father, leading regular family devotional time together (Ephesians 6:4).
Boiling it All Down
There is no magic formula for child-rearing. Even with consistent family devotions, a child can go astray. Each child makes his own choices for which a parent is not responsible. However, one day all parents will stand before God and give account about their faithfulness in raising the children God entrusted to them.
We want our children to be successful, but is our greatest joy that they walk in truth? (3 John 1:4) The priority we give to family devotions may hint at the honest answer to this question.[2]
[1] I suspect that these book references may hint at the ages my wife and I were when our first children were born! Please update me in the comments about the hot Christian parenting books today.
[2] Not sure how to practically lead family devotions? Subscribe to my author website and download a one-page summary to help you get started. Also, check back for more posts in this series on family devotions.
Some parents, particularly of older children, have used my missions devotional, Daring Devotion, as a supplement during their family devotions. A sequel missions devotional will be released in late November 2022.
Photo credit: Ann Danilina on unsplash.
