When our children come to know and love Christ and
understand His will for their lives, they will not experience
the unnecessary suffering that comes from breaking the
law of God. A vast majority of our trouble comes from
violating some aspect of God’s good plan. If we want our
children to experience true joy and satisfaction in life,
we must give them a biblical worldview.
4. We want them to be used by God to posi-
tively impact the world.
our children to Christ and instilling a biblical worldview in
their hearts and minds, a vast majority of them will bless our
hearts as adults, not break them.
3. We want our children to experience the joy and
satisfaction that comes from living in harmony with
God’s law and design.
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the
law of the Lord” (Ps 119:1).
All of God’s laws are filled with God’s love. His laws were
put in place to protect us, not restrict us. When our girls
were little they couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t allow
them to play in the street. They thought I was restricting
them from having fun when in reality I was saving them
from getting seriously hurt.
When we diligently teach our children the truth of God’s
word and help them see all of life through the lens of God’s
word, we set them up for a joyous life. No, we can never take
away all their pain or tragedy, but we can help them to live
under the blessings that come from living in harmony with
God’s good design.
10
My parents chose, with God’s blessing, to bring
nine children into this world. It wasn’t easy, and
we surely don’t have the perfect family. However,
after giving more than 50 years to full-time Chris-
tian ministry, my parent’s tribe has now grown
to include 101 people. 52 of the 101 are either in
full-time vocational ministry or preparing to go into
the ministry. Many others are being used by God in the
fields of medicine, business, etc. One of my parent’s greatest
joys is to watch their children impact the world for Christ
through the many endeavors we are involved in. Often my
dad will call and share a new idea he has for Renewanation.
He currently serves as a legacy pastor on my brother Troy’s
pastoral staff. The fact that we are giving our lives in service
to Christ simply thrills my parents. I know this feeling now
as both of our daughters are serving in Christian ministry.
It doesn’t matter where God chooses to use our children,
but to know that they love Him and are serving Him in
their field of work is a dream come true for most Christian
parents. This can only happen if we are intentional about
developing a biblical view of life in their young hearts and
minds. If Jesus isn’t their supreme love, they will fall for the
lies of our culture and chase selfish dreams that lead them to
live meaningless lives.
5. We want them to carry the Christian faith to the
generations to come.
In Judges 2:6-10, we see how quick faith can be lost. We are
told in this passage that Joshua and the generation below him,
who had seen the great things the Lord had done, served the
Lord. But by the time we get to Joshua’s grandchildren, we
read this: “And there arose another generation after them
who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for
Israel.” How sad! I have seen this pattern over and over again.
When I was a full-time pastor, non-Christians would file