Crossroads: “Parenting — An Age of Opportunity?”

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“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  (Prov. 22:6)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might, (and) you shall teach (God’s) words to your children, and talk about them at all times.”  (Deut. 6:5-9)

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parenting-teensTripp:  The Age of Opportunity

Why is it that we can get so wrapped up in politics that it becomes a topic of conversation with nearly everyone we meet, yet we so rarely share the challenges and opportunities that we deal with in our homes?  Why not?  It’s a subject as old as time itself and one that we all have to deal with.

For many of us, one of the biggest questions is how to prepare our children for the battles that they will face every day?  That’s what it is — a battle for their hearts and minds.

It’s a battle which pits the siren songs of a secular culture that draws them away from God, on the one hand, against our desire for them to lead a God-fearing, God-loving, and God-honoring life in ways that are pleasing to Him.

It’s that battle that describes what some parents regard as perhaps the most important “job” they will ever have.  But how to deal with the challenges and periods of turbulence that are often a prominent feature of parent-child relationships – especially during the teen years?  What’s a parent to do?

That is what our Crossroads program will focus on this weekend, as Rita Dunaway and I draw some helpful guidance from an outstanding book by Paul David Tripp entitled Age of Opportunity:  A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens.

The Heart of the Problem

One writer describes this as a “Problem of the Heart”.  Perhaps that is why the Bible refers to the heart 812 times.  It must be important.

In fact, Jesus warns us repeatedly to guard our hearts for “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.”  Similarly, Jeremiah warns us that “our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked”?

What is it that drives our hearts to run after things that displease God and that are harmful to us? Our culture teaches us to “Follow your heart”.  But is that good advice?  Should we be trusting our “emotions” to drive so many of our decisions?  It goes back to the problem of the heart.

And again, it’s the choice of following the whims of culture against doing what is Right and what is True, according to Scripture.  Inevitably, that will affect the parent-child relationship – especially when our children remind us that “everyone else is doing it”, so why can’t they?

False Gods vs. Godly Goals

In addition, what about the idols that try to sneak into our lives and into the hearts of our children.  We may have difficulty recognizing them but they’re there.  In fact, in nearly every one of the list of evils that Scripture warns us about, idolatry is at or near the top.

So what are some of those false gods that we must learn to identify and to avoid – both as parents and as children?  If we say we have none, we need to look again.  What about the god of Power?  Or of Prestige?  Of Popularity?  Possessions?  Pleasure?  Politics?  Can they come between us and God?

The list goes on.  But how do those false gods affect our parent-child relationships?  And what can we do to remove them in our own lives so that we can work together with our children to build a God-centered rather than a Self-centered home?

In addition, what can we as parents do to “win our children for wisdom” and to model for them hearts and lives that “hunger and thirst after righteousness”?

For example, is it possible, and even perhaps “transformational”, to humbly confess to our children that we struggle with some of these same issues and idols?

Finally, how can we instill in them a Biblical view of life that will prepare them to engage the culture rather than to withdraw from it, and to pursue goals that would honor and glorify God?

Crossroads:  Where Faith and Action Meet

For more on all of this, please join Rita Dunaway and me this weekend on Valley radio.  It airs on WBTX (1470) at 4:00 p.m. today (Saturday) and again on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., followed by WSVA (550) and WSVA/FM (92.1) at 8:30, and WNLR (1150) at 11:30.  You can also listen online HERE anytime.

Crossroads is entirely listener supported, and we are so grateful for your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support.  If you would like to help, please send your check to Crossroads at PO Box 881, Harrisonburg, 22803.  All donations are tax-deductible.

For Happy, God-Centered Homes!

Dean