Living Free - July 30, 2007

Commitment to Consistent Parenting

Today's Scripture
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Thoughts for Today
God has given every parent a wondrous privilege and a great responsibility. Our goal as godly parents should be to help our children grow and develop in such a way that they will have healthy relationships both within and outside the family, and most importantly a personal relationship with God, the Father of us all.

But how do we do this?

The Bible teaches principles of godly parenting that will help us guide, direct and love our children. This week we will be looking at one general, but vital, principle: consistency. God is consistent with us—he consistently loves us, disciplines us and cares for us. And this must be our aim as parents—we must be consistent in all that we do with our children.

God's relationship with us sets the pattern for our relationship with our children. We can always count on him to be consistent. Today's Bible verse tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. God loves us, is available to us, teaches us, disciplines us and blesses us—consistently. We can count on him.

Consider this…
Our children need to know that they can count on us to be consistent, but consistency is difficult to develop and practice. Unlike our heavenly Father, we will not be perfectly consistent. But we can work toward the goal. It's a process—and as we trust God, he will help us.

Prayer
Father, I thank you that I can count on you to be consistent. I know that you will never change, and there is such security in that. Help me to be a consistent parent ... and to be consistent in all my relationships. In Jesus' name ...

These thoughts adapted from…
Godly Parenting by N. Elizabeth Holland, M.D. addresses parenting skills from the time of conception until the child has reached adulthood. It suggests methods for raising healthy, godly children in an increasingly secular society. Specific emphasis is placed on communication and teaching skills, discipline, protection and sexual issues at each age. As with all Living Free small group curriculums, Godly Parenting can be used as an evangelistic tool by inviting unchurched people in the community to these helpful sessions and using the opportunity to build relationships and demonstrate the love of Christ, opening the door for them to be drawn to Him. 

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