Over the last two worship services, we have looked at Christian marriage. This week we consider Christian parenting. It is a natural transition for Paul in Colossians (and Ephesians). What is the connection between marriage and parenting? Here these wise words from William Farley:
There is an old proverb: "Children learn more by the eye than they do by the ear.” The most important example that parents possess is their marriage. Our marriages preach. They preach a message that either attracts or repels our children. Parents who joyfully pursue God are contagious. Joyful sacrifice for the gospel is contagious. A gospel that makes parents stable, sincere, joyful, loving, affectionate, and humble is contagious. Children will want a God that produces these qualities.
On the other hand, parents going through the motions of church, enslaved to rules, serving God to gain his acceptance, tolerating their spouses, or worse, engaging in open warfare, chase their children away from God and his church. When Mom and Dad preach one thing but do the opposite, and don’t repent to their children, it makes the world attractive and the gospel irrelevant.
Kids also internalize their parents’ passions. They alone see what or who you “really” love, and not what you merely pretend to love. Maybe it is upward mobility. Maybe your passion is entertainment (sports, movies, music). For others it is hunting, shopping, or golf (Gospel-Powered Parenting), 106-107
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