Parenting snapshot.

I recently had the chance to teach at two churches on the topic of parenting. Following is the snapshot of the parenting mission I gave that is found in Deuteronomy 6. Parenting is a commissioned relationship to mold and model God’s life into my child.

Deuteronomy 6 tells me that I am to “mold” the life of my child. Andy Stanley calls this the “control” we have over children when they are younger. We can mold their understanding and appreciation for God, and their self-image. Solomon’s book “Proverbs” is an excellent tool in shaping young lives, as he writes for his children to “listen to my words”.

We move toward “influence” in our children’s lives and begin to lose more and more control. Ultimately we will have no control over them - only influence if we parent effectively when they are younger. Influence means modeling our lives in front of them, showing the way as we go the way, walking the talk. We need to let them see our God relationship, see how we struggle with our weaknesses. We need to model a healthy marriage for them. Solomon wrote another book, Ecclesiastes, which chronicles for us and his children the life he lived, good and bad.

As we are molding and modeling, we will move through the three stages of parenting: we CRAFT the lives of children, COACH adolescents, and CONSULT young adults. You cannot parent with them same role throughout your child’s life. Parenting is a moving target, and our role grows and morphs as the child grows and morphs. Read here for further comments of parenting.