The next morning, my son (who was five-years-old at the time) asked me if I'd had my Bible study yet. At first, I thought he was being kind and holding me accountable. But, I really believe he was hoping to delay the start of our school day.
My children do see me worship, read God's word, and pray. They knows it's a priority in my life! I hope I am an example of a woman who is deeply in love with her Savior!
My children also see me mess up BIG time! But, they've also seen (and heard) me stop and ask for God's forgiveness and help to overcome different areas of sin in my life. That's what my pastor called in one one of his recent sermons, "living out the gospel at home." When we (parents) ask for God's forgiveness and also our child to forgive us if we've sinned against them. (Anyone ever yell at their child in an angry voice and then later go and ask them for forgiveness?)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is one of my favorite passages of scriptures to cling to as a parent. You know...a lot of people talk about verses 7-9, but 4-6 are VITAL!!!! How can we as parents "impress" or teach anything to our children if we first do not LOVE the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
So dear Parent, do your children SEE you worshipping, loving, and serving the Lord? Are you making any effort to teach your children about the one true God - who He is, what He has done, and all He's promised to do? Do you have a testimony to share with your children? It is YOUR job to share Jesus Christ with your children and help them continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)
2 comments:
This is good stuff. My children don't always see me having my personal devotions (I like to do that in my room before facing the day whenever possible!) but they do see ministry and service frequently. I could do better at allowing them to see the personal side of my relationship with the Lord, rather than just the ministry side. It could be a New Englander thing though, it seems like such a private area between me and the Lord. My children reflect that in that they do not always talk "Christianese" but I get glimpses of the depth of their relationship with the Lord sometimes and it blows me away.
Thanks for the thoughts to chew on!
Lori, my children don't always see me have my personal time with the Lord. They did a lot more when they were younger. But now that they're older I do have a bit more personal time:)
Then, of course there are those days that I allow busyness to consume me and keep me from having that time at all.
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