THE SUCCESS OF PARENTING
Geoffrey R. KirklandChrist Fellowship Bible Church (St Louis, MO)
What makes parenting successful? Every father and mother want to be successful in what they do. But how does one really know if they did it right? Christian parenting is like other duties in the life of the believer. God calls His people to consistent faithfulness. Successful parenting does not necessarily mean that all the kids will be Christians, go to good churches, be married and have a bunch of kids. One could fail miserably at his parental responsibilities and yet, in the immense mercies of God, the kids may walk closely with Christ! Or, a parent may faithfully lead his children in the home by teaching the Word, walking holiness, guarding the Lord’s Day, leading in prayer, and modeling Christian conduct and yet all the while the children may remain unregenerate and be indifferent toward Christ and His gospel. The outcome of the children’s spiritual condition does not necessarily determine whether or not the parent was successful.
Success in the Christian life is always measured by consistent faithfulness. The goal is for you to be faithful to Christ and obedient to the obligations that He gives to you. Epaphras was praised by Paul as a “faithful servant of Christ” (Colossians 1:7). On that final day, Jesus will reward His people by saying: “Well done, good and faithful slave’ (Matthew 25:21, 23). This does not mean perfection nor does it mean the outcome of a task determined the success of the event. Rather, was the child of God obedient, faithful, and diligent to follow Christ and discharge the duties that God gave him? That’s the proper barometer for biblical success.
In the Word of God, the Lord calls parents to understand God and study Him diligently. He then calls parents to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, and strength. Furthermore, parents must teach the things of God diligently to their children in the home formally and informally (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4). The question for parents is whether or not they have been faithful to these key fundamentals in the home. God does not command fathers to keep the kids busy with school activities, or ensure they go to a good college, or make certain that they are the best on the sports team, or that they have the new video game and cell phone and entertainment gadget that’s on the market. Successful parenting means that fathers lead their homes in the study of God, the worship of God, prayers to God, and in holy living before God.
Only God can save lost souls. Indeed, the Spirit of God uses His Word in the saving of unregenerate souls. Parents must know this and thus impart biblical truth and also pray diligently that God will attend His Word with great power — power to save the lost and power to sanctify the saved. The duty of parents consists in faithful parenting and obedience to God and persistent praying and intercession to the Lord. Paul said it well: It is required of stewards that one be found “trustworthy” — or, faithful. This certainly applies to parenting. Therefore, successful parenting is when the father and mother can say that by the enabling grace of God, they have sought to lead their children to Christ through the consistent teaching, instruction, example, and leadership as they obeyed the Lord and His Word.
This is part 6 of the blog series on PARENTING.
