The task of parenting is harder today than ever before because our children are faced with greater challenges and temptations than ever before. To make matters worse, there is a degradation of the responsibility of parents that flows out of our contemporary culture.
God’s Word clearly outlines that these factors of decreased responsibly and disobedience children are to be expected in our world, and it also give clear indication of the root of the problem.
Problem #1 – Idolatry – Their Relationship to the World
- The problem with your child’s behavior is not their behavior, its their heart
- Your child will be led towards worship by their environment
- Character development is fleeting
Problem #2 – Depravity – Their Relationship to their Heart
- Children are not born neutral beings, they are born with broken hearts
- Uncorrected depravity breeds destruction
- Repentance is the first step on the path of life
Problem #3 – Authority – Their Relationship to God
- The heart will worship what it deems authoritative
- Wisdom’s authority is directed at the heart
- Wisdom’s rebuke comes from parents
Conclusion:
Honest Instruction of the Heart is a Process
Application: REPORT CARD!
- Gives clear instruction? YES / NO
- Instruct from God’s truth? YES / NO
- Speaks to their heart? YES / NO
- Continues the conversation? YES / NO
2 Timothy 3:1
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money”
Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?”
1 Corinthians 15:33
“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.'”
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:15
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
Psalm 51:5
“Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
James 1:13-15
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
James 5:19-20
“My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
2 Timothy 3:1-4
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Isaiah 65:2
“All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations”
Colossians 3:20
“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Philippians 3:18-19
“For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”