Intentional Parenting

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deut 6:6-9 (NIV)

The people of God embraced this confession of faith, known as the Shema, to acknowledge their commitment to the One true God and their obedience to His commandments. Loving God and obeying His commands were the marching orders for the people of God to employ. This way of life was to be personal and familial. It was not enough to love God and obey His commands personally. This lifestyle of obedience to God was to be modeled faithfully and handed down intentionally.

With the privilege of parenting comes the awesome responsibility of modeling Christ in the home. God wants our homes to be a place of intentional parenting. As parents, we have been given the assignment to lead our children into a growing relationship with Christ. We are to model what God wants us to multiply through our children. The lifestyle of loving God and keeping His commandments is to be visible in our homes. Our children should not receive mixed signals from us as to what our God-given priorities are. We are to impress upon our children the commandments we have received from God that are upon our hearts.

A few years ago I had a parent meet with me to complain about their teenager picking up the habit of smoking. I then asked the parent, “Do you smoke?” The parent immediately affirmed that reality.

Why would a parent criticize a teenager for something the teenager learned from that parent? God wants us to intentionally model Christ before our children. God wants us to intentionally live lives of moral purity before our children.

What are you impressing upon your children? Are you leading them into a growing relationship with Jesus?

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor