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raising godly kids



We are in the middle of a series at The Community Fellowship called BLESS THIS HOME, and yesterday we talked about raising Kids.  I want to thank Pastor Ron Edmondson for sharing an article about his plan to his boys to follow Jesus.  Here are some of the things I shared with our church family:

One of the most challenging areas of life can be family.  Get married.  Add kids.  You got a recipe for great things, or you have a road headed for trouble.  There’s lots of joy, but there are also many pitfalls.  I’d suggest that our biggest stressors in life have to do with relationships.  Maybe even with our kids. 

Most believers have a strong desire to raise kids who are followers of Christ and who are godly.  With three kids, I know the difficulty and the competition that our world offers and distracts us with.  Almost 20 years ago Julie and I got married.  It was about 19 years ago that we began thinking about what we will have 30 or 40 years from that point.  We began to plan for our retirement and for our family to succeed.  About 6 years ago we met Joe Sangl, and God put it on our hearts to become debt free.  That takes planning and hard work now so I can have a positive result in the future. 

We want to succeed, but we want to have it all handed to us.  Often people aren’t willing to do what it takes or are unwilling to plan for success.  We want success, but we don’t do what it takes.  To succeed means we have to make some decisions, and to succeed takes time and planning.  If I want a specific outcome, I have to make hard and great decisions now.  So take this into consideration: desired future results determine today's choices.

If I want great results in the future, I have to make great choices today.  To have a retirement I have to start planning now.  To go to Disney I have to start saving and planning.  To buy a house I have to start putting away some cash and put together a plan of what we want and how we are going to get there.  To have a career that is something out of the norm and successful I have to work on educating, working hard and more.  Those decisions have to be made now.

Raising kids, godly kids, is much the same.  I desire for our children to be strong and successful in life.  We want them to be well rounded and to have great relationships and strong families.  That means I have to make some choices now.

3 John 1:4  NLT
I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

The greatest joy comes when you work hard for something and get it.  What does that look like to follow truth?  What does it mean to be a successful adult or to have a strong family?  What does a Jesus follower look like?  How can we make sure that our kids follow the truth?

We have to teach our kids truth.  We have to model truth.  We have to aim at something, know what we are aiming for and keep on the right path.  Raising godly children does not happen over night or by accident.  Something has to happen.  Somethings might have to change.  My direction and my mind need to see now what I want to see then.  Listen, I have to see in my mind’s eye today what I want to see in the future.  Desired future results determine today’s choices.

Proverbs 22:6  NLT
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

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