Deuteronomy 6 provides for the
parent a picture of God’s Plan in
parenting. It is one of the most
profound passages in the word of
God having to do with parenting
and the parenting process. Deuteronomy 6:1 says, “Now this is
the commandment, the statutes
and the judgments which the
Lord your God has commanded
me to teach you. That you might
do well in the land where you are
going over to possess it.” The
Lord is primarily talking about
the Ten Commandments. These
are the laws that were presented
by God to Moses to give to the
people. Now again, hear what
this says, in my paraphrased
version. “The commandments,
the statutes, the judgments
which the Lord God has commanded to teach or impart are to
be listened to and followed with
a sincere devotion. The focus
or purposes of these teachings
are to prepare my people for
inheriting the promises that have
been previously stated, and are
summarized here. There are
possessions that are to be possessed by the people of God,
and all that is required to do so
is obedience to the commandments that have been taught.”
In the passage presented above,
Moses was speaking about
actual land and real warfare to
possess it. From a New Testament viewpoint, land means
more than just geography. It is
speaking about every promise
found in the word of God that
pertains to His children. If God
has provided a husband or given
a wife, even though at times one
might like to give them back,
they’re still a precious possession,3 a gift from the Lord. Once
received, one becomes respon-
sible for the proper care of the
gracious gift. Children are a gift
from God, and part of ones “possession”. They are part of the
family inheritance. God wants
parents to “possess” them, “So
that you and your son and your
grandson might fear the Lord
your God.” “The fear of God is
the beginning of wisdom and
knowledge.” (Ps. 11:10)
One of the purposes for obeying
the commandments of the Lord
is so that respect will be built into
ones children. It is a well-documented fact that it is vital for children to learn basic respect for
legitimate authority at an early
age. Respect really has to do
with the fear or the awe and reverence of the Lord. How do children learn this reverence? By
learning to reverence their parents. One of the ways my wife
and I have jokingly expressed
this to our children has been to
tell them, “remember, to obey
is better than being sacrificed!”
The Word of God s ays that worship with the lips is nothing compared to worship from the heart
that is demonstrated by obedience to God’s commandments.
Children learn to worship the
Lord by having a basic respect
for parents and subsequently for
the Lord.
A parent’s primary goal should
be that their children learn to
fear the Lord. One of the things
that is missing in Western society is a respect for right and
wrong. There is an abysmal
lack of a basic sense of law and
order, which comes from a lack
of respect for proper authority,
including parental authority. The
reaction to lawlessness in society
has been to build bigger prisons
that are structured for punishment. A parent’s focus should be
on providing resources to their
children so they can be properly trained, rather than voting
for more money to build prisons
for those who have not learned
respect or are reaping a harvest
from sown abuse and neglect.
There must be a renewed commitment to the equipping of
parents to effectively rear their
children. This is the hope for the
future of every nation.
The plan and purpose of God
is that children (adults as well)
might fear the Lord and respect
His Word. Often a demand is
placed on children to respect
adults, and if they do not they
are punished. The expectation
is that little children give absolute obedience and allegiance
to the parents every whim and
command.
In truth, children love to show
honor and respect to their parents. It is natural for them to want
to obey and please them. What
causes most children to begin
the disobedience process is not
demons, nor is it even the old
nature in most cases. It is usually discouragement. This discouragement will be discussed
in detail later, but first more on
the commandments of God.
Referring back to Deuteronomy
6 it says, “Keep all his statutes
and his commandments which
I command you all the days of
your life, that your days may be
prolonged.” How many parents
want to see their children live
to a ripe old age? Jesus may
come back soon yet, until He
comes, His church and all His
people are to be actively in the