Yesterday in my morning message, I quoted Voddie Baucham on the need to encourage discipleship in our children. For today’s Marriage Monday segment, I want to give you the quotes I mentioned and simply ask, “Parents, are you equipping your children to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus? Or are you equipping them to a selfish lifestyle with little sacrifice following whatever their little hearts desire?” We have been given an awesome responsibility from God to shepherd the hearts of our children.
Here are the quotes I used…
“Ask parents what they want most for their children, and you will likely get the same answer whether they are Christians or garden-variety unbelievers. They will likely say, ‘I want my children to get a good education.’ In fact, that’s exactly what George Barna found when he interviewed Christian and non-Christian parents. The number one goal that they had for their children was that they would get a good education.
“I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with emphasizing education for our children. However, our children’s education is not our primary goal. Our primary goal for our children is that they walk with the Lord.
From Family-Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
For further instruction, you might consider checking out J.C. Ryle’s excellent piece entitled “The Duties of Parents”Parent by grace in a way that draws out the heart of your children and prepares them for the good news of the Gospel.