Christian parenting is interesting. You know you are parenting differently than most of the other parents in the world. You know it isn’t easy. You want your kids to grow up to be Christians. You don’t mind them having different values from other kids, but part of you still wants them to be popular, successful and happy.
Unfortunately, what we want and what God wants often collide. Satan is slick. He knows how to turn a phrase or work our emotions so we take our eye off the prize. He knows how to distract us and make worldly goals seem a lot more important than God’s goals for us. He knows how to make sinning look like more fun than obeying God. He knows exactly how to make Christian parenting look like more trouble than its worth. He knows how to make us think taking our kids to church and praying before meals will be enough to guarantee they will be active, productive Christians as adults.
So, I want to help protect you from Satan’s tricks by encouraging you to regularly ask yourself two important questions. These questions are especially important when you are making a choice which directly or indirectly touches your kids in some way. Ready?
- How badly do I really want my kids to spend eternity in Heaven?
- Does the choice I am about to make move them a step closer to God or potentially a step away from God?
Fair warning. These questions aren’t as easy as they seem. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say your child has a dream to be an athlete or musician or academic star. Then an amazing opportunity is given to your child. We are talking studying under the most famous teacher in their area of interest in the world. The opportunity is only available to them in a situation that will require them to miss six weeks of worship every summer. See what I mean?
Sometimes the most effective Christian parenting means you have to make gut wrenching choices. Your child may have to endure temporary pain. You will have to face hard truths about your own faith. You will have to listen to unwelcome wisdom from scripture and more experienced Christian parents. You will have to be different from the other parents at school and even at church. You will have to sacrifice worldly things for spiritual ones. You will have to persevere when you want to quit. You will have to humble yourself and accept what God requires, even if it is something you don’t want to do or don’t agree with because it is unpopular by the world’s standards.
If you are totally, gut searching, honest about the answers to those two questions though, it can make a huge difference in your Christian parenting journey. It will reveal where you need to grow spiritually. It will reveal your true priorities. It will awaken you to the realities of the choices you are making for your children. It may even break your heart and cause you to repent.
Ask yourself those two questions daily and every time you are about to make a choice involving your kids. It can help you reach the Christian parenting potential God has given you. Your kids will have an opportunity at a much stronger spiritual foundation. It’s scary, but ultimately, it’s worth it.