Friday, June 11, 2021 Some material taken from Parenting With Purpose Part 1
But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Ephesians 4:20-24
The Home We All Wish We Had
None of us grew up in a perfect home with perfect parents, but some of us grew up in homes that were far from filled with grace and love. Most parents want to be good parents and have a healthy home for their child or children. How can we do that when sometimes we don’t know where to start? In the Parenting With Purpose series, Brother Van has given us some Core Principles of Christian Parenting that will provide a good foundation to build on.
Home needs to be a place where children’s value and identity are positively reinforced.
Kids flee from people who tell them what they're not and flock to those who tell them who they are and can be. - Van Houser
Kids will learn to listen to those who listen to them and value them. Children are smart and they can tell when someone truly values them. If they don’t get this kind of validation at home, they will find it somewhere else and often, it is the wrong group of people that are waiting to tell your child what they are longing to hear.
One of the biggest needs we have as humans is to be accepted. We all need a safe place where we can feel free enough to truly be transparent and honest about our mistakes, our feelings, our hopes and dreams, and our thoughts and feelings about life and current events. Home should always be that place. It is so important for children to know their parents will always love and accept them the way our Heavenly Father has loved and accepted us.
The Christian home is formed from God’s Spirit within.
The Christian home is not about who rules the home, but who rules the heart of the home. Setting the "tone of the home” is akin to the creation of an environment for people to find peace, harmony and success. The single tone is peace. The family tone is harmony.
Before we can have the home we want, we must allow the transforming power of God’s Spirit to work in our hearts. Paul speaks about the change that occurs when a person is saved and the new attitudes and behaviors that result. In the verse above he sums this up with three infinitives--to lay aside the old self, to be renewed in your mind and to put on the new self. Put on is not merely a renovated nature, but a new, altogether different nature, a changed nature - walking and talking and acting differently than others. God’s Grace makes genuine life change in us possible and gives us the power to do what is pleasing in His sight.
Parenting from our natural instincts will not produce the spiritual home God desires. In our human nature, we are not capable of creating this peaceful spiritual atmosphere in our homes by ourselves. This can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow yourself to be transformed, and your home will be transformed as well.
