This article is courtesy of ParentLife.
Christian parenting is an adventure that bears great responsibility and can be the greatest privilege of your life.
Through the daily process of raising your child, you can turn even the non-glamorous parts of parenting into a schedule of preparing your child for a lifelong walk with his Creator. As a Christian parent, the following things are your main responsibilities.
Nurture Your Child’s
Spiritual Growth
Children who are
raised to know God can learn to feel unconditional love, know a sense of
purpose, and care for the needs of others. This competitive edge gives their
lives worth and prepares them not only to face the uncertainties of life with
gusto, but also gives them hope of an eternal life in heaven. To nurture your
child’s spiritual development, you can:
• Go to church. This sounds simple, but busy families often have a hard time
fitting regular church attendance into their schedules.
• Worship together. At the very least, offer thanks to God for His provision
at mealtimes and bedtime. Encourage your child to voice his own prayers. Listen
to Christian music in the car and at home. Read simple Bible stories to your
preschooler; provide a school-age child with his own devotional book. Once a
week, talk together about how God has blessed your family. Pray for others.
• Teach your child about giving tithes and offerings. Set an example by giving
a portion of your own earnings to the church. Let your child place his own
offering in the envelope on Saturday night and into the offering plate on
Sunday.
Guide Your Child’s
Education
As a parent, you are your child’s first and best teacher. You know your child
best and can encourage him to do and be his best. Whether you feel God’s
guidance to enroll your child in public, private, or home school, you must
remain vigilant and involved in his educational process. You should:
• Volunteer in your child’s school. Attend school functions and
extracurricular activities.
• Support teachers and administrators. Never before has the chasm between
parents and school leadership been so wide. Teachers value the cooperative
support of parents. Ask how you can help. Pray for them and tell them you are
doing so. Address concerns with care and concern rather than hostility. Teach
your child to respect and obey teachers and administrators.
• Make time for learning. Make homework time family time. You can write
letters, read a book, clip coupons, or prepare for a meeting at work while your
child studies. Sharing homework time teaches your child that learning is a
lifelong process.
• Encourage learning away from school. Watch less TV and spend less time in
front of the computer. Take your child on fun and educational outings to the
zoo, science museum, nature center, or aquarium. Cook together, read books, or
take a photography class together. Participate in hobbies.
Pass Along Christian
Family Values
Secular society presses upon Christian families from every side. Parents have a
responsibility to teach children about choices — not only what not to do but
what to do.
For example:
• Your personal example teaches your child what kinds of entertainment
you value. Television shows, movies, books, magazines, and video games can
contain offensive language, sexual innuendo, and mature themes. Expect your
child to notice what you watch, read, and say. Decide if a product is
inappropriate for your family and explain to your child why. This will help your
child begin to make discerning choices for himself.
• A school-age child is ready for some honest discussion about how the world
works and why Christians choose to act differently. Providing free baby-sitting
to a single mom at your church or in your neighborhood teaches your child that
he can use his time and money to help others. Befriending a child with special
needs helps your child begin to accept the differences of others. Returning
incorrect change to a cashier demonstrates honesty and integrity in daily
living.
Teach Respect for
Others
Tolerance is a word
used often in secular society. As the culture supposedly becomes more adept at
tolerating the rights, beliefs, and attitudes of others, children are becoming
disrespectful to one another and to authority figures. Turn the tide of
disrespect in your home:
• Teach your child to use his manners. “Please” and “thank you” can
still be magic words.
• Remind your child that adults with whom they interact (school teachers,
church leaders, parents of friends, and adult relatives) have the same authority
as you do. When a Sunday School teacher asks your child to stop running in the
church hallway, he is to comply. If an aunt or uncle urges him to share or help
clean up, he should immediately obey.
• Give positive, consistent discipline. Children need boundaries. Do not
worry; your child will still love you if you enforce appropriate rules at home!
When a child is expected to obey the rules at home, he will be more inclined to
obey the rules (and the law) away from home as well.
Provide a Safe Harbor
The world is a scary
place, but home can be a place of refuge, safety, and love. Continue to make
time for family, even as your child grows older:
• Eat meals together as often as possible. The family meal is quickly becoming
a novelty. However, children need this time not only to practice healthy eating
habits, but also to communicate as a family.
• Make family nights a priority. Play board games or watch appropriate videos
or DVDs. Take a walk around the neighborhood. Ride bikes. Play in the creek. It
does not matter what you do. The point is to spend time together.
• Start new traditions. Find an interest you all share. Try attending baseball
games at the local college. Go to the library together. Play in the park every
Saturday. Send a family picture to relatives and friends at Easter instead of
Christmas. Eat waffles every Thursday night. Repetitive activities, when done
together, help a child feel secure and self-assured.
Coauthoring Your Child's Story: Parenting on Purpose (Homeworks Series)
The author of three books, Andy Cook once edited a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of sports stories, and he still writes for newspapers and magazines across the country. However, he prefers to be known as the husband of Melody, the father of three daughters, and the pastor of Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia.
