It’s Complicated – Parenting

Regardless of who you are, you can make an incredible difference in the life of a child!

How To Parent:

1. Instruct
   • What Does Instruction Look Like?:
     • Teach them God’s Word
     • Prioritize church attendance
     • Pray with your kids
     • Show them what respect looks like
     • Admit when you are wrong
     • Forgive quickly
     • Think before you speak
     • Lead by example
2. Discipline
   • You were never called to be your child’s friend. You are called to be their parent.
3. Protect
   • Online resources:
     • Common Sense Media (see also: Plugged-In, Kids-In-Mind)
     • Axis
     • Bark
     • Circle
     • see also, the documentary: “Childhood 2.0“
4. Provide
5. Be Present

When it comes to providing for your family, do everything that you can possibly do (apart from sin), and leave the rest to God.

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Key Scripture:

Psalm 127:3-5 (NLT)

3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NLT)

6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Start talking. Find a conversation starter for your group.

• What did parenting, and specifically parental discipline look like for you when you were a kid? How does this compare to parenting styles today?

Start thinking. Ask a question to get your group thinking.

• Read Psalm 127:3-5.  Why does the psalmist refer to children as both a gift from the Lord and arrows in a warrior’s hands?  What does having children have to do with being able to confront one’s accusers?
• Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9.  The author is calling us to commit wholeheartedly to these commands on instructing our children, to never stop doing so and to even create physical reminders around our homes and on our bodies of the commands.  What does this passage tell us about the importance of parenting?  How does parenting today compare to the seriousness implied in this passage?
• Read Proverbs 22:6.  What does it mean to direct children onto the right path?  Why do children still often leave the path? (Got Questions article on pg. 2 discusses this issue)

Start sharing. Choose a question to create openness.

• The 5 main parenting “How To’s” from the message were: 1) Instruct, 2) Discipline, 3) Protect, 4) Provide and 5) Be Present.  Discuss why you agree or disagree with this list.  What does your own list of main parenting How To’s look like?
• Discuss the following findings: According to the Bark.us 2021 annual report: 68% of tweens (aged 9-12) and 90% of teens encountered nudity and sexual content on the web and social platforms.
• Clay gave us some examples of instruction for children: Teach them God’s Word, Prioritize Church Attendance, Pray with your Kids, Show them what Respect looks like, Admit when you are wrong, Forgive Quickly, Think before you Speak, and Lead by Example.  What would you change about this list?  In which of these areas do you think parents today most struggle or succeed?  Do any of these stick out as impactful from your childhood?
• What does it look like when parents prioritize being present in the lives of  children?  For those who aren’t parents, how might you support those efforts of parents or be present in the life of a child?

Start doing. Commit to a step and live it out this week.

• Identify one of the instruction examples, i.e. Teach them God’s word, Forgive Quickly, etc. and commit to take a step to improve in that area.

Start praying. Be bold and pray with power.

• God, we are so thankful to be loved by you as your children, to be able to know you and to call on you as our heavenly father.  Please encourage and guide us through our respective parenting roles, so that we may be mindful of and obedient to your commands. -Amen

Start digging. For further study.

• Read this Got Questions article, “Does the Bible Promise that godly parenting will always result in godly children?”

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