Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say

Shortly after Diane gave birth to our first child she was honest enough to admit that neither of us knew the first thing about raising children. And then she had the integrity to begin to diligently seek God concerning the “right” way to raise children. She would then share with me what she learned, and we would both put it to work… as a solid, united team. I’m extremely proud of her and what she enabled us to accomplish as parents.

When you boil what she learned down to the core essence, it is this… The goal is not to raise “good” kids… The goal is to raise children who are led by the Spirit. (I know one Pastor who said it this way, “The key to leading a successful Christian life is to learn how to be led by the Sprit of God.”) Indeed, Romans 8:14 says that the definition for a son of God (vs. a child of God) is that the son is one who is led by the Spirit of God.

So… Our goal should be to raise “sons of God”.

Church-wise Kids

We’ve all seen them… those churched kids who know how to act right and speak right when they are in the church environment. These are the ones who, when they’re away from church or away from their parents, identify with the world instead of with Jesus. I was one of those… until God got hold of me at the age of 27.

It has been an interesting exercise in my life to befriend young people on Facebook who grew up in church with my children. I sometimes wonder, “What went on in that family behind closed doors? Why do these young people seem so far from the things of God when their families seemed such solid Christians when they were little?”

A Blog I Think You Should Follow

I’m giving you this intro because I just posted two of this week’s articles for Diane’s new blog. When I read the one she posted for this morning I suddenly saw what I believe is a huge piece of the puzzle. Not that it was new knowledge for me, but it was suddenly presented in a manner that made me say, “Okay… I can see the impact of a universal principle when it comes to parenting.”

Hopefully that article will give you the same epiphany I had. If you’re a parent, I hope it will help you see some adjustments you could make to be a better parent and to achieve better results than so many Christian parents obtain. If you’re a leader, the principle still applies to what you do. If you’re in business, it still applies. In fact, if you’re dealing with others on any level it is something you need to know and to be aware of.

After you read her article, please come back here and let me know what you think by posting a comment. If you like her article, please share it on Facebook or Twitter so your friends can see it, too.