Salvation and Spiritual Values

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
—Deuteronomy 6:6-7

How do you parent with S-U-C-C-E-S-S? The first “C” in this acrostic stands for this: successful parents COMMIT to leading their child to Christ.

A visitor once came to the home of English poet Samuel Coleridge. The visitor said, “I don’t believe that parents ought to interfere with the spiritual development of their children.” Coleridge did not say a word. Instead, he invited the visitor to see his garden. When they arrived at the garden, the visitor exclaimed, “That’s not a garden–that’s a patch of weeds!” Coleridge said, “Well, it used to be a garden, but then I allowed it to grow without any interference from me.” Do you realize that if you allow your children to grow up without any spiritual interference from you, they will naturally grow away from God? That’s the bent of our hearts–we all have a sin nature that pulls us away from God. The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and the wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). That’s why wise parents commit to lead their children to know Christ as Savior.

Now, it’s the sovereignty and the grace of God that converts a person, but there are some things parents can do to encourage our children to trust in Christ. First, pray for your children’s salvation. Second, be open to your child’s salvation. Jesus said, “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). There are only two things your child has to understand to be saved: an awareness of his own sin and an understanding that Jesus came and died and paid the penalty for his sin. Third, schedule a time to explain the gospel to your child. There is no greater joy as a parent than to see your child come to know Christ as Savior and to know your child will be with you in heaven forever.

The second “C” in this acrostic stands for this: successful parents COMMUNICATE spiritual values to their children. You see, our responsibility does not end when our child becomes a Christian. We have the responsibility to instill in them godly values. Moses said, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). There is a sense of urgency in Moses’s words. That word “diligently” means to intensely sharpen. Moses is not saying to teach nice spiritual platitudes to our kids. He is saying to sound the alarm! Your children will be faced with those who live contrary to God’s Word. So be on the alert and prepare for them for battle. As parents, we need to be intentional about communicating godly spiritual values to our children.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Parenting with S-U-C-C-E-S-S” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.