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Parenting: Center Your Family in the Lord

Make Jesus the Lord of Your Christian Home

(c) 2005 Doug Britton (Permission granted to copy for personal use)

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).

Introduction to Making God the Center of Your Home

If you are like most Christian parents, nothing is more important to you than for your children (1) to be born again and (2) to live their lives according to God’s Word. This Bible study presents many things you can do to create a Christ-centered home and help your children see what it means to be Christians. For more information about this critical topic, read Successful Christian Parenting: Nurturing with Insight and Disciplining in Love.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).

As you study the following outline, score yourself from 0 to 10 on each point.

• "0" means, "I really need to improve in this area."
• "10" means, "I'm doing great in this area."

Provide a godly example.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul told Timothy to provide a godly example in speech, life, love, faith and purity.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity (1 Timothy 4:12).

Ask yourself what sort of example you provide in these five areas:

Speech. My rating (0-10): ____
Life. My rating (0-10): ____
Love. My rating (0-10): ____
Faith. My rating (0-10): ____
Purity. My rating (0-10): ____

Present Christianity positively.

In many families, Christianity is presented in a negative light. Children see angry parents with a lot of rules, sometimes accompanied by threats of "you won't go to heaven if you ..."

Christianity is much more than a list of rules. Help your children enjoy the joy that comes from being close to God.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him (Psalm 34:8).

What is it like for your children to live in your home? Does Christianity "taste" good?

Presenting Christianity positively. My rating (0-10): ____

Pray with your children.

Teach your children the importance of prayer by praying with them. As they grow older, teach them how to pray themselves. Have bedtime prayer times during which each child prays for at least one person.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2).

Praying with my children. My rating (0-10): ____

Have family Bible studies.

Don't leave "spiritual training" up to the church (or a church school). Choose a Bible that is age-appropriate, and then lead your children in family Bible studies. Don't do all the talking yourself. Talk about the Bible during the day. Ask your children questions about what a passage means, and how it applies to them.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Family Bible studies. My rating (0-10): ____

Lead your children to the Lord.

Don't assume that your children are Christians because they go to church or because they are being raised in a Christian home. Be sure to offer to introduce them to Jesus!

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3).

Leading my children to the Lord. My rating (0-10): ____

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•  Successful Christian Parenting: Nurturing with Insight and Disciplining in Love

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