THREE TRUTHS FOR YOU AS PARENTS:
TRUTH ONE: Much of what your kid becomes later in life is caught from you or taught by you early in life.
- Teach with your words.
- Teach with your life.
TRUTH TWO: The Gospel is the best guide for your parenting.
What Should I Teach Them?
- Teach your kids that every person is made in the image of God.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.” James 3:9
- Teach your kids to be includers not excluders.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
- Teach your kids that life is a celebration and not a competition.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music… Psalm 98:4
- Teach your kids that being stubborn is worse than being wrong.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me, my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:3-5
- Teach your kids to erase lines and break down barriers.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
- Teach your kids to seek truth, not power. See Luke 4:1-13.
- Teach your kids that love covers a multitudes of wrongs.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
TRUTH THREE: Consistency is the key to success.
- Be present in the moments. Every moment is an opportunity to show the Gospel!
- Model it day in and day out. Remember, more is caught from you – how you behave, respond, and react… than what is taught by you!