Training Children Part 4

IX. Here is a list of things that need to be trained into children. A. Train the importance of faith (belief, trust, confidence) in what God has declared in Scripture. God cannot lie (TIT 1:1-2) and His word is utterly reliable in all things seen or unseen. HEB 11:1-3, 6-10. B. Train the importance of hope, especially the hope of a better life in a better body in a better environment free of sin and death, and this implies patience to endure present trouble. ROM 8:24-25; 5:3-5. C. Train the importance of charity: selflessness in the service of God. 1CO 13. D. Train the fear of God. ECC 12:13. 1. This fear must not be according to the precepts of men. ISA 29:13. a. Mind the connection of “...removed their heart from me...” b. When the heart is removed from God, the intellect conjures up alternate ideas of God, and this is the path to idolatry: inventing a god that suits you. 2. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. PRO 1:7; 9:10. 3. The fear of God is to hate what God hates. PRO 8:13. 4. The fear of God should be greater than the fear of anything else. LUK 12:4-5; EXO 1:17. 5. Teach them the omniscience and justice of God, that nothing escapes His sight and there will be an exposure and judgment in due time. HEB 4:12-13; 1CO 4:5. 6. Teach them of accountability to God and judgment to come, that this world and life are not the end of the story. ACT 17:30-31; ROM 14:10-12. 7. Prepare them to meet God. 1JO 2:28. 8. The fear of God promotes right priorities: love of God before love of man. MAT 22:36-40. 9. The fear of God is the chief reason for doing right since the most important question is “What will God think of or do to me if I do wrong?” Make sure your child understands that their training and correction is a matter of obedience to God: both the parent’s and the child’s obedience to God. 10. Teach them the Ten Commandments. EXO 20:1-17. Training Children 5-31-26 Page 14 E. Train the importance of prayer, and our Lord’s taught manner is a sound basis. MAT 6:5-13. 1. This requires that you be a prayerful person or your training will look hollow. 2. Children should be prayed for and prayed with by parents whose very lives are visibly known to be prayerful. F. Train the priority of God and His righteousness. MAT 6:33. a. Show and teach them that what is best for man’s soul should rule over other concerns. HEB 11:24-26 c/w 2PE 2:6-8. b. Godliness is best for now and preparation for eternity. 1TI 4:7-9. G. Train the value of reading over viewing, especially the reading of Scripture. 2TI 3:15-17. a. Reading demands knowledge of words and grammar. Viewing demands little input or processing and triggers the dopamine effect without rational thought. b. Good books expand knowledge and imagination: you form the images in your mind that are described in the text rather than let someone else’s images rule your thoughts. H. Train the worship of God. JOH 4:23-24. a. By your own fear of God and devotion to Him, train your child that the awesome Creator and Judge of the universe is to be publicly praised regardless of trouble. ACT 16:25. b. Show and teach your child that church worship is necessary, highly prioritized and an introduction to eternity. PSA 78:4; 84:10; 122:1; EPH 3:21. c. Don’t expect your child to highly value God’s house if you play fast and loose with your devotion and duty to it. I. Train obedience and submission to legitimate authority. EPH 6:1-3; ROM 13:1-2. a. Show them and teach them to not revile rulers, starting with you. EXO 21:17; 22:28; ACT 23:5; 2PE 2:10. b. Show them and teach them that church officers are legitimate authorities. HEB 13:17. J. Train the value of labor and merit against idleness and handouts. PRO 19:15; ECC 2:24; 3:22; GAL 6:4; 2TH 3:10-12. a. Life is not all rest and play and work comes first. HEB 4:4; JOH 9:4. b. “Feats before treats. Chores before stores.” K. Train wisdom. They must learn to apply knowledge and understanding. PRO 4:7-8. a. There is a world of information but an island of wisdom and this is discernment. PRO 14:15; 15:2, 14; ECC 7:11-12; 10:10. b. The greatest wisdom is not found in Solomon or Aristotle but Jesus Christ. EPH 5:14-17; COL 2:3. L. Train humility and thankfulness, not pride. 1PE 5:5-6; 1TH 5:18. a. We are awash in the culture of self: self-love, self-realization, self-importance, self- satisfaction, self-esteem. Do not train your children to think that the world revolves around them. b. “People with high self-regard, the evidence says, possess low regard for others. Instead of seeking opportunities to serve others, they seek to manipulate others. Furthermore, people with high self-regard tend to anti-social behavior. People incarcerated in maximum security prisons have very high self-regard, for example... So, to the question, 'Isn't it possible for a child to have high self-esteem and a high level of respect for others?' The answer is an unequivocal no... The Amish do not value or promote self-esteem (they call it 'being prideful') and they don't think there's a problem they can't solve (and you'd be hard pressed to identify one they Training Children 5-31-26 Page 15  haven't solved).” (Dr. John Rosemond, The Washington Times, April 12, 2009) c. “Raising a child who possesses high other-regard simply requires that parents do what our great-grandparents did. They put their marriages first, not their kids. They gave their children all that they truly needed and very little of what they simply wanted. They assigned daily chores from age three on. They expected their children to always do their best, in whatever setting.” (http://rosemond.com/blog/self-esteem/) d. “Researchers have discovered that people with high self-esteem tend to overestimate their abilities. If anything, they are over-confident. As a result, they don't cope well when life deals them a bad hand or their performance doesn't live up to their self-expectation. For those reasons, they are highly prone to depression. Because they believe that anything they do is deserving of reward, they also tend to underperform... Society is strengthened and culture is moved forward by the efforts of people who think of others before they think of themselves, not by people who think they are the cat's meow. In that regard, one of the most foreboding things about contemporary American culture is that today's young people regard the narcissistic, self-promoting celebrity as more of a role model than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.” (http://www.signalscv.com/archives/62177/)