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Questions Parents Should Ask

Today, we’re beginning a new message series on parenting called “Parental Guidance Required”. Being a parent is a great joy, but it is also a great responsibility. My wife Carol and I are in the middle of learning how to parent. We have seven children with ages ranging from 2 through 11. With God’s help we have learned a few things that I believe will be helpful to you and your children.

Each of us of course had parents. When you look back on your own childhood, what do you remember?. You remember your relationship with your parents, whether good or bad. Looking back, it wasn’t such a big deal whether Dad got a promotion at work or not. What was important, was the time you spent together. Looking back, it really no longer matters whether you had the latest or greatest toys, what mattered was the fun times with Mom. Yet in today’s society, many parents seem most interested in how much they can buy for their children, how many activities they can get their children involved in. As a result, their relationship with their children takes a back seat.

NIV 1 Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. God wants you as a parent to look at your children as He does, by looking at their hearts. The cultural trend is exactly the opposite, looking at the outward appearance. Our culture has the tendency to make children experience rich and relationship poor. Just because your child has all the latest toys and is dressed in the in fashion, does not mean they are being prepared for life. Just because your child is doing well in all kinds of school activities does not mean their heart is being developed.

NIV Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. That’s God’s desire for families, to build relationships. The heart has to do with relationships. God wants you as a parent to help your children with their relationships. That means that you need to develop your own relationship with your children. If you do what everybody around you does with their children, your heart and your children’s hearts won’t be turned toward one another. Then when your children become teenagers and their lives disintegrate, you’ll say “I did what everybody else did, I gave them everything they wanted, I took them to every school activity, what went wrong?” What goes wrong in so many families is that relationships get low priority.

Today, my message is entitled “Questions Every Parent Should Ask. I’m going to introduce you to three questions that deal with the three most important relationships your child has. As you ask these questions, God will give you answers from the Bible.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my February 4, 2007 message entitled Questions Parents Should Ask

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