Parenting is tough! And strong, healthy families don’t happen by accident. It takes intentionality. Pastor Lisa Seaton unpacks practical tools for building healthy, Christ-centered family relationships.
Notes 📓✏️:
Psalm 68:5-6: “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
God places the lonely in families…”
You never drift into having a Christ-centered family, it takes intentionality.
Psalm 127:3: “Children are a blessing from God”
If you don’t define the values for your family, then the world will.
1). My children will know and love God
Psalm 127:1,4-5: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-7: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Sit at home (dinner table)
“Children who regularly share family dinners are more likely to have positive outcomes like higher self-esteem, better academic performance, healthier eating habits, lower risk of depression, reduced likelihood of substance abuse, improved communication skills, and decreased engagement in risky behaviors”
Walk along the road (intentional as you are driving in your car with your kids)
When you lie down (nighttime prayers)
Transfer dependency from you to God
When you get up (invite God into the day)
2). Our family will grow in faith
Song of Solomon 2:15: “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
Are there any little foxes that you’ve let in that are preventing growth in your family?
Ecclesiastes 8:15: “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad; then joy will accompany them in their toil…”
3). Parents who live it out.
Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The greatest impact of faith won’t be the words you speak, but the life you live.”
What one generation sees as optional, the next generation will see as unnecessary.
4). As a church family we will pass it on
Judges 2:8, 10, 11: “Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.”
After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
“Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.”
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- What do you think Pastor Lisa meant when she said that we never “drift” into having a Christ-centered family?
- According to Deuteronomy 6:5-7, how can parents and guardians actively teach their children about God?
- What are some of the “little foxes” mentioned by Pastor Lisa that might hinder growth in our families?
- How can intentional practices (Such as having regular family dinners) contribute to a family’s spiritual and emotional growth?