A couple of days ago I wrote a post called WHAT IS YOUR BOAST? It was about raising children ready for the coming of Jesus. Paul called the Thessalonian young believers his “glory, joy, and crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming.”
I noticed he had the same heart for his babes in Christ at Philippi. He called them his joy and crown too. In Philippians 4:1 he says: “Dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” In verses 7 and 8 he says: “I have you I my heart . . . how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.”
This was his life. To pray for and exhort and encourage these young believers so they would be “pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (1:10 ESV). We should have this same passion for our children. More than any other aspiration for our children we should long for them to live lives that are “pure and blameless” in this evil society.
It was the same kind of society in Philippi. He exhorted them to “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (2:15,16 ESV).
To keep our children straight and not veering into the humanistic lifestyle that is so prevalent today, and even in the church, we must constantly fill our children with God’s Word. It is the only antidote against deception. We must do it daily. Morning and evening. Without fail.
We must be strong to speak out against evil. We love people, but we don’t love and tolerate sin. If we don’t speak up against what is evil, our children will not know God’s standard and can easily fall into the groove of society. There are too many Christian young people who accept homosexuality! How can that be? Do they no know God’s Word? Do their parents not speak up?
We are not raising children to be like the word, but children who walk pure and holy lives. Children who will shine their light in the darkness of this world. Children who will be our “joy and crown” at the coming of the Lord.
We’ve got to become passionate parents for the Kingdom of God.
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell