Godly Parenting

Of all people, I suppose I may be the least qualified to give parenting advice. I am 22 years old, have never really lived on my own, was/am sheltered by choice for a very, very long time now and have ZERO kids of my own. That is my disclaimer.
 And yet, I feel a GREAT burden for both parents and their children...of all ages.I am very privelged to work two very part time jobs..like if you could have a part-part time job- that would be the most accurate description of what I do in addition to college these days.
One is as a nanny for a family with a three year old and a 14 month old. I have been with them now for a year and a half and I love this family. Their faces and stories have graced this blog plenty of times. I love their children dearly and pray for them regularly.
The other position I am privelged to serve as is in Jr.High and High School ministry at my local church. I have been serving here in differing capacities for almost 2.5 years..The faces of these youth and the stories and lessons I've learned from being around them and being faithful to seek the Lord through serving them has certainly changed my life and is hinted at in more of my blog posts than I can name..
I say these things not to boast or brag, but to let you know where I am coming from and that I truly respect the role a parent serves to their children. In fact, I do not presume to rebuke any one person's parenting style or assert that I could do better, quite the opposite. I simply want to share with you the burden God has given me for your kids and challenge you with the Gospel truths He has been challenging me with as I seek to grow in the area of spiritual parenting and well, biblical womanhood in general. May God be glorified in this and provoke you to love and good works for His Name's sake.

One of the things I have looked forward to for as long as I can remember now is being a parent...I am still looking forward to it! Though now, I praise the Lord that He allows me the fortune of gaining spiritual children when kids of my own are no where on the map or plan right now! (If this sounds foreign to you or hits home for you check out this Piper sermon!)
In her book on a Titus 2 approach to Biblical womanhood, Carolyn Mahaney writes,

"We are to delight in our children. Let us not forget why. As we discovered in the first chapter, the promotion of the gospel is the impetus behind the commands in Titus 2. The mandate to love our children is no exception. This phileo kind of love is appealing to the observant audeience of our lives. It stands out in stark contrast to the strife and discord in families all around us and thus draws attention to the transforming effect of the gospel. May this extraordinary call to commend the gospel infuse our hearts with fresh vision and enthusiasm as we seek to love our children!" ( Pg 51, Feminine Appeal)

Parents, your privelge and responsibility is to communicate the clear calling of God on the lives of your children. Through prayer, your own consecrated lives, through the very love and delight that you show your kid-. You will either commend or discredit the Gospel of Christ. It is your job and chief aim to point your kids to Christ in all that you do and all that you teach them to do- sports, eating, sleeping, etc. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Do you see how beautiful that is? How precious, how delicate,and how incredibly powerful?! You're under 24 hour- a-day survelliance to walk the talk, to live by the Book, to love and enjoy your kids that they might have a saving knowledge of the Christ. I encourage you to evaluate how you're doing at this. I said that so lightly, and while I can not relate, I sympathize with you in this undertaking.
Does that seem like a lot of pressure? Does that seem bigger than you can handle, more readical and involved than you imagined? Is your heart heavy at this task? Make the joy of the Lord your strength, value the grace of God in each situation, draw from Him as your Supply and choose biblical greatness!
Again, Mahaney writes,

"As mothers ( or fathers I would add), we have a choice. We can either resent the challenges and demands that accompany motherhood (or any ministry for that matter) and persist in our selfishness, or we can draw from God's grace and receive His help to cheerfully lay down our lives for our children. Let's choose the latter. If we do, we are choosing biblical greatness. ( Matthew 20:26)" (pg 53, Feminine Appeal)

I just returned from a weekend of winter camp with some amazing High School girls. Some of whom, love and know Christ. Others who have certainly been exposed to the Gospel but haven't had any one show them Christ's genuine beauty or their desprate need for Him. This can be said to your shame and mine. This is where I join you in this task. As someone who loves the Gospel of Christ and enjoys daily the benefits of godliness and walking in the faith, I love your kids, your teens and your toddlers. And I am all in to present the Gospel to your kids, to seek to be above reproach that they would see Christ in me. That I could say as Paul did "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" ( 1 Cor 11:1) But one weekend at camp, won't reverse your day-in, day-out parenting or example. Don't get me wrong, I do not seek to minimize God's saving ability but rather to challenge your testimony amongst your children!

In Jeremiah 6, God is pronouncing judgement on His Children, Israel. In Jeremiah 6:10-19, we can gain a great insight to the wrath of God. He addresses His prophet Jeremiah regarding the ultimate downfall of His people saying, "Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold the Word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it."
The problem Identitified here is disregard for the Word of the Lord. From this root problem, God goes on to identify character flaws:

• greedy for unjust gain (v.13)
• false dealings (v. 13)
• no remorse or conviction for sin (v. 15)
• lack of humility (v. 15)

Because of this, the wrath of the Lord will be poured out on Israel and they would be conquered by the North. I am here to say that these flaws, this disregard for the Word of the Lord is rampant in this generation that, I too, share a part in. I beg you to consider your calling as parents to communicate the calling of the Lord on your kids, to commend the Gospel with your actions and tender love with a holy fear lest your kids stand one day to know the wrath of God as evidenced in Jeremiah. I beg you to consider and evaluate how you regard the Word of the Lord, how you present the Gospel daily to your children. I beg you to join me in ragaining this generation in the tender love of Christ and power of the Gospel.
I am praying for you!

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasureable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the workings of His great might.." Ephesians 1:17-19