Space Invaders (6)

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Prov 22:6 (NIV)

Child-centered parenting is not in alignment with God’s economy.

God values order. Where there is order, there is fruitfulness. God established the home for our benefit and for His glory. God’s blueprint for the home includes order. God expects the husband and father to be the spiritual leader of the home. During my upbringing, my parents divorced and as a result, my mother became the spiritual leader of our home. The spiritual leader of the home is responsible to set the spiritual temperature for the home. Thus, the spiritual leader of the home is to be the spiritual thermostat for the home.

When our children are elevated to the place of setting the environment for the home, something is out of order. When parenting becomes child-centered, in that everything centers around the wants and wishes of the child, something is out of order.

Excessive extra-curricular activities for our children can become space invaders. When our lives and our schedules resemble a perpetual rat race, then something is out of order. We can overload and overwhelm our home by being overextended and overcommitted to too many activities. Instead of pushing our children to be involved in a myriad of activities, what if we had them choose one or two. Would that simplify your famly life? Would your schedule have more space or margin to do life?

Who is making the tough choices in your home to keep your family in alignment with God’s economy? Who is guarding the priorities and the order ordained by God for your home? The decisions you make to create space for doing life together as a family will serve as a tangible model for your children to emulate when they become parents one day.

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor