Resources for Christian Parents Seeking to Raise Kids in a Sinful World
Posted on October 25, 2016 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
As a parent that is deeply committee to imparting my faith to my children, I am always looking for resources to help. I am often overwhelmed by the task of sharing my faith with my kids, teaching them, and training them. I fail daily and need the wise counsel of those who have gone before me.
With that in mind, the following list is some helpful resources for everything from praying for your kids to taking them to church. There’s insight on answering kids’ biblical questions and tips for raising Godly kids. And, at the end is a list of books and other resources that can provide further support in your task as a parent of bringing the Gospel to your children. I hope this is a helpful list of resources that provide encouragement and support for you, mom and dad.
Why Require Unregenerate Children to Act Like They’re Good?
“Here are at least three reasons why Christian parents should require their small children (regenerate or unregenerate) to behave in ways that conform externally to God’s revealed will. I say “small children” because as a child gets older, there are certain external conformities to God’s revealed will that should be required and others that should not. It seems to me, for example, while parents should require drug-free, respectful decency from a 15-year-old, it would do little good to require an unbelieving and indifferent 15-year-old to read his Bible every day. But it would be wise to require that of a 6-year-old, while doing all we can to help him enjoy it and see the benefit in it.”
Seven Things to Pray for Your Children:
“Some years back a good friend shared with me seven Scripture texts that he and his wife prayed for their two daughters from the time they were infants. The girls are now grown. And it’s beautiful to see how God has (and still is) answering the faithful, specific prayers of faith-filled parents in the lives of these young, godly women. I have frequently used these prayers when praying for my children too. And I commend them to you (see below).”
“We find the root of this comfort in God’s covenant with Abraham: ‘I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant’ (Gen. 17:7). Yet simply being born of believers doesn’t guarantee salvation (Rom. 2:12–29). A child must also be raised faithfully in the covenant (Gen. 18:19; Deut. 6:6–9; Ps. 78:1–7), and he must believe (John 3:18). Only those ‘who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God’ are children of God (John 1:10–13).”
Setting Up My Kids for Salvation:
“When it comes to my kids, I seem to want to believe that God’s action is dependent upon my action. I believe that for God to save my kids, I first need to do the right things. If I want God to save them, I need to cross the spiritual t’s and dot the spiritual i’s. And if I don’t, well, their salvation may just be questionable. When it comes to their eternal destiny, it’s like he isn’t looking to their good deeds, but to mine, as if they will be justified by my merit or condemned by my lack of merit.”
“Let us look briefly now at the manner in which Deuteronomy 6:6–7 guides us in teaching our children diligently. First, teaching our children requires time. Here we must reject the false either/or at the root of the myth about quality time outweighing quantity of time. Teaching our children “diligently” is defined and elaborated upon as talking to them ‘when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise’ (v. 7).”
Be Ready to Answer Your Kids’ Questions About the Bible:
“One of my children repeatedly pressed me with questions like, “How do you know that Christianity is the right belief?” That naturally led us to talking about the Bible. Who wrote it? How is it God’s word if men wrote it? What makes it different from other religions’ holy books? How do we know it doesn’t have mistakes in it? What does it not tell us? Christianity stands or falls on the reliability, inspiration, and authority of the Bible. Children pick up on that early. We tell them that they should trust the Bible. At some point they will (and should) ask why (if they feel it’s okay to ask). So here are a few answers (in language I would speak to my 9 year old twins) that might be helpful for some mealtime (or bedtime!) discussions.”
“My kids need Bible promises, but on most days I need them even more. I’m prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I want them to love. So here are ten promises from the Bible that every Christian parent should remember, especially the Christian parent writing this blog.”
Children in Worship – Let’s Bring It Back:
“As the church, let’s be open to the idea of inviting our children into worship again. Let’s be patient, deliberate, and wise, but let’s encourage families to have their children in worship as soon as they are able…Today, I want to offer a few reasons on why we should encourage the children of the church to attend our corporate worship services. Tomorrow, I will pass along some helpful hints for parenting in the pew. Why should children attend the worship service?”
Children in Worship – Mom Tested Tips:
“This is a follow-up on yesterday’s post…Focus on this moment throughout the week: Talk about Sunday morning worship all week long. Help your children to see that each week begins with this privilege (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-25).”
What Influence Do You Have on Your Children?:
“You can’t save your children. You can raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, guard them from the sinful influences and temptations of the world, and cocoon them in the fellowship of others who know and love God. But in the end, as we saw last time, their repentance and faith cannot be inherited or manufactured—salvation is God’s work, not yours. As a parent, your influence can only go so far. Having said that, I want to stress that sometimes—I should say often—parents are partly to blame for their wayward children’s rebellion. And it has been my observation over the years that parents are generally more to blame for wayward kids than society, peers, or any of the other influences parents tend to blame.”
5 Things Christian Parents Must Do to Raise Godly Kids in a Secular Worldt:
“As I’ve blogged about Christian parenting for the last four years, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from hundreds of parents. This gap between 1) knowing our secular world will influence our kids’ faith and 2) understanding what exactly that means for parents, is nearly universal. And it often leads to fear and frustration—parents know there’s a problem but they don’t know the solution…Here are five key things to consider.”
A Mother’s Main Responsibility:
“Mothers ought to instruct their children in the principles of religion and to sow the seeds of godliness in their hearts as soon as they are able to speak and have the use of reason (Deu 6:6-7). Such early religious education is a blessed means of grace (1Ki 18:12; compare verse 3). Not only is this the duty of fathers, who should teach their children (Pro 4:3-4), but of mothers, who, while the children are young about their hand, should be dropping something to them for their soul’s good. Solomon had not only his father’s lesson, but the prophecy his mother taught him (Pro 31:1; 1:8).”
Recommended Books for Training Children:
“The following is far from an exhaustive list, but rather, books that that are helpful for equipping kids in the truth of the gospel and in the defense of their faith. The list also includes a few good titles on parenting as well. Not a lot of good presuppositional literature out there for this age group so I have listed some classic and evidential titles that can still be helpful. If anyone knows of other books that have helped your children that are not listed here, please feel free to recommend them.”