Thursday, June 4, 2009 9:11 PM CDT
Clergy Views: Children follow parents' Christian example
By Pastor Pat Murphy, First Baptist Church, Charleston
Are You Teaching Christian Faith and Values to Your Children?
Our children are our most precious possessions. They are wonderful gifts given to us by God to enrich our lives and to bring us joy and love.
Along with the wonderful gift of our children comes the responsibility we have to love them, to care for their needs, and to provide the training and encouragement that will shape their lives and provide the foundation of values upon which their lives will be built.
Most of us do a pretty good job of loving our children, caring for their needs, and providing them all sorts of wonderful opportunities to help them to grow and develop. Unfortunately, the area where so many parents fail their children is the area of teaching them Christian faith and values.
It used to be that sex was the taboo subject in most homes. Today, I believe it is sharing Christian faith and values.
If our children are confused about right and wrong, if they are not sure about what is real and what is phony, if they feel an emptiness inside where they should be experiencing God and His love, then it is probably because there are so many parents, who are confused about their own values and ideals. Therefore, they have neglected this area of responsibility that is so important in determining their children’s destiny and the quality of their life on earth and for all eternity.
According to a poll done a few years ago of new parents across our country, 81% of the mothers and 78% of the fathers expressed their plans in the future to send their children to Sunday School or some type of religious instruction.
Although perhaps many of these parents didn’t see the importance of allowing God to work in their lives and guide their values and lifestyle, they were concerned for their children to develop a set of Christian values and morals that would equip them to enjoy a productive life.
There are many fine churches in our community that can help children to experience the love of God and develop Christian values and morals. However, since values are caught more than taught, our children are more likely to follow the example of their parents’ values than those they learn in church.
Our children are not only heirs to our possessions, they are heirs to our values and character. Children may close their ears to advice, but they keep their eyes open to example.
In order for our children to develop Christian ideals and values, parents must be willing to go to church with their children and be willing to seek God’s transforming love and salvation for their own lives, as well as for their children. Also it is important that Christian ideals and values are taught at home, not just by word but also by example.
God tells us, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 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” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
In other words, parents are to seek to make God real in every aspect of family life and help their children to build their lives upon God’s truth and commandments through their own example as well as their teaching.
A man and his young son were climbing a mountain. They came to a place where the climbing was difficult and very dangerous. The father stopped to consider which way they should go. He heard his son behind him say, “Choose the good path, Dad; I’m coming right behind you!”
May those of us who are parents choose the right path for our lives, opening our lives to a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. With God’s help, may we seek to provide the training and example that will in time help our children to discover a personal relationship with God and the Christian values that will guide them to abundant living here and for all eternity. Billy Graham’s daughter, Gigi, has said, “The only thing that parents can take to heaven is their children.” (Quoted by John Maxwell in “What Children Owe Their Parents and Themselves,” Preaching Today, Tape No 140).
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
kamfong wrote on Jun 5, 2009 4:39 PM: