If you were to ask the question, “Who are the most powerful people in the world?” the answers would vary. Some would say those that are on Wall Street, the big oil executives, or the President of our country. That is how most people judge importance and power. But if you think about it, a more accurate answer is that the most powerful and influential people on earth are parents with the faith to raise their kids, and to direct their families in a way that is pleasing to God. That is powerful! What does the cliche say? “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” Don’t underestimate the power of being a Godly parent.
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As parents, we are privileged to mold a life that will live forever. This life will be greatly affected by the kind of teaching that is received from the parent. What an awesome responsibility we have! What is your vision for your family? It’s easy to view academics as an end in itself, but no amount of education can guarantee success for our children. God’s vision for prosperity and success is found in Joshua 1:8.
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”(KJV)
We need to talk about God’s Word, meditate on it, and obey it. This should be our guide as we strive to teach and train our children! I want to share 3 keys to help us be successful in our homeschooling and parenting.
1st Key to Success: Continual Focus on the Bible
As parents, we must make it a priority to spend time in God’s Word. As we focus on God and His Word, the teaching of His Word will be a natural outpouring of our thought life. We talk about what we are excited about, worried about, focused on, etc. So it only makes sense that if we want to give our kids a love for God and His Word, we have to make sure that He is first in our life and thoughts. Then it will be a natural thing all through the day to talk about what God is doing in your life. Your kids will sense your love for God, and your desire to please Him in everything. It is said that faith is caught, not taught. If we want our kids to have a real relationship with the Lord, we need to make sure WE have one. We can’t force their hearts to love God, but we can give them a thirst for Him by our example. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink…BUT, you can salt his oats! What are you doing to give your kids a thirst for God?
Make the Word of God the focus of everything you do, and build everything around it. Get your kids excited about reading God’s Word as soon as they start learning phonics. Gradually help them learn to develop the habit of daily reading His Word. Make a big deal out of the importance of this habit. We make sure they brush their teeth daily, bathe, and do their schoolwork. How much more important it is to see that they develop a spiritual habit that will have a positive impact on them for the rest of their lives! God has specifically promised to bless, prosper, and protect those who do.
(Continued tomorrow)
I couldn’t agree more! We “make” our kids do all kinds of things. Habits that sustain their health (eat their veggies), habits that sustain their hygiene (bathe) and habits that sustain their education (homework). Why on earth do we neglect to make them read their Bible everyday?
Great, great post! I can’t agree more. So many people have their first priority wrong and it just continues to go wrong from there. This is something we are striving for in our home – making God’s Word the center of all we do! And starting young helps to build that desire and healthy habit in their lives. My oldest (3yrs) loves reading the Bible. I give him one to flip through while I read to them. This helps him to feel like he’s apart of what we’re doing.
Thank you Kathie for another great post. I love how you put it, “the teaching of His word will be a natural outpouring of our thought life,” What a great reminders. Thank you for linking up at Home Educator Mom.
Thank you Kathie,for making me see that is never too early to bring God’s word to our kids.
Thank you Kathie for this inspiring post. Indeed the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. The task of raising godly children that are well trained but also have great affection for GOD, HIS WAYS and HIS WORD in our contemporary world is very key and cannot be over stated. Best regards Kathie.
So glad that you found the post to be inspiring. You are so right about the importance of training our kids to love God and His Word!