Parenting Hacks: THE GOAL OF PARENTING
1. The goal of parenting is to mine the treasure out of your kids
Proverbs 15:6 The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings ruin. (NIV)
Psalm 127:3–5 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates. (NLT)
3 Parenting Philosophies
1. The Authoritarian Style
Colossians 3:21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits. (The Message)
1 Samuel 20:30-34 Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. "You stupid son of a whore!" he swore at him. "Do you think I don't know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”32 “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” 33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.34 Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David. (NLT)
2. The Permissive Style
1 Samuel 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord (NLT) (The thing that I want you to notice as we continue to read about Eli’s sons is how Eli was permissive. He allowed it. He was a passive parent)
1 Samuel 2:17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt. NLT)
1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (NLT)
I Samuel 3:11-13 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. (NLT)
3. The Biblical Style
Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. (NLT)
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 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. (NIV)
