May 11, 2025

YOU ASKED FOR IT: KIDS—RAISING THEM RIGHT

May 11, 2025

 Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Today we continue the series of questions from the congregation concerning topics they would like answered. Parents asked, how do we raise children who will grow up to be Christ-followers? There is no better teaching technique than being a role model for your children. As Pastor Jonathan said, “Modeling Christian behavior is indispensable in raising our kids the right way.” Many of us cling to Proverbs 22:6, ‘Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.’ St. Augustine’s mother knew this promise from the word of God, and shed many tears with fervent prayers for her son. For many years, he ‘wallowed’ in the pigpen of riotous living before allowing his heart to be softened by God. May we all keep such fervent prayers for our wayward children going heavenward, meanwhile exercising all godliness as we teach our young children or grandkids by our example the rewards of following and loving God.

Focal Passages: Proverbs 22:1-11; 10:9; 11:2, 3, 6; 16:18; 19:17; 28:25, 27; 1:7; 15:29; 27:19.

Give them the right name:

• Read Prov. 22:6 and 22:1-3. What did God mean when He inspired Solomon to write, ‘a good name is better than riches’? Literally, it means to have a good ‘reputation.’ Very few young people see the wisdom of choosing a good reputation over wealth; how can you teach them that wealth (as Prov. 23:5 says) ‘makes itself wings and flies away’ while one’s reputation endures for a lifetime? Is a good name earned or given?
• Does our financial status make us more loved by God? In fact, why may wealth be a time of testing?
• What kind of behavior should be modeled in verse 3? Why does someone with no common sense go headlong into trouble, time after time? How do Prov. 10:9 and 11:3 illustrate these two questions?
• What character qualities will model a good reputation?

Give them the right example:

• Read Prov. 22:4-6. Did you mentally translate verse 4 to mean ‘humility results in riches’? What can ‘wealth, honor, and life’ mean if it is not material riches?
• What are the thorns and snares in the wide path of the wicked in today’s world? How does one avoid these traps? In 1 Pet. 5:8 and Eph. 6:16, who sets the traps? How do you teach your child to avoid the snares?
• If a child is taught by a parent who portrays pride or arrogance, will he learn by what the parent says, or what he sees? How do we teach children to choose the right path?
• When is the best time to begin to train your child? When God’s word says ‘train up a child in the way he should go,’ is this meaning his head knowledge or his heart knowledge?

Give them a lesson in giving:

• How does a godly parent teach a child to handle finances, possessions and debt? Can covetousness be taught? How does one teach a child they do not get everything they ask for—and why are so many parents today blind as to where this will lead eventually?
• Read Prov. 22:7-9. What does verse 7 mean? How can you teach this principle to your child?
• In verse 8 we see a law of sowing and reaping; Tony Evans said, ‘If you plant tomatoes, you won’t get pumpkins.’ How do we teach our children that every action has an equal and opposite reaction?
• Will a parent who exercises genuine care and concern for other people probably raise a child who mimics these qualities? Will they see the happiness that giving of one’s possessions or money gives the generous parent?

Give them a love for righteousness:

• Read Prov. 22:10-11. Have you ever been in a group where a ‘scoffer’ was being disorderly? Why do we not turn this person out, as the Bible says? If we did, what would happen? Why do we put up with raucous behavior in the name of ‘showing love’ to the one who is being obnoxious?
• Do you desire a pure heart for yourself? What are some of the things you do to see that your heart is not corrupted?
• We do what we love. If this is true, why do we often do what is wrong?

CLOSE:

The Scripture is always right when giving promises, principles, and laws—and everything else. It will always be, as Peter wrote, everything we need to living a life that is pleasing to God. It would seem another extension of the Proverb that says ‘a good name is rather to be desired than great riches’ is not one we think much about: the Bible often points out the name of a person is their heritage. Is this true or coincidental? Think of the names throughout the Bible: Peter was called the Rock when Christ renamed him Cephas. He definitely became a rock of strength, immoveable in his stand for the truth of the resurrection. Jacob was a ‘heel-catcher’ but God renamed him Israel (one who prevails with God) after his conversion. Nabal, in 1 Sam. 25, had the reputation of being harsh and mean. We later find his name meant “fool” or folly. Why would a parent give a child a name with such a meaning? Perhaps we need to be more careful of the names we give our children, so they attain to them in adulthood!

Parents can speak, preach, teach, and give everything to their children; in reality, the kids will always learn more from the example they see daily than they ever will by what they are told. (As in, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s what you do!’) A.W. Tozer wrote that as disciples we should be like diamonds. A diamond does not change in the dark, during a storm, or if it’s wet or dry—it is always the same, able to be a diamond. That’s how we should live our Christian life. Are you committed to the Lord with all your heart? That will be the test as your child grows up.

By Sandy Day                                                                                                                                                                                               May 11, 2025