The Big Picture of Discipling Your Children | By Charity Edmonds

The Peg and the Pen: "Penning words in order to shape culture and to train women to hammer with a peg the tyrants that the Lord has placed in their path of obedience."

The Big Picture of Discipling Your Children

by Charity Edmonds

Normandy Beach - The mere mention of it forces our imaginations back to the famous black and white scenes we know too well. The gray toned documentaries and docuseries made to enlighten those of us who were not there, tug at our hearts still, yet none so much as those who personally waded through the bodies of their comrades washing up onto the shore while they marched to victory.  To the increasingly fewer grey-haired heroes that walk amongst us today, the stories were never black and white. The memories are as vivid as ever because they lived it…not in black and white, but in vibrant reality. Almost 81 years removed from D-Day, we can still imagine the difficulty of actually living through those times. We think of those victorious fighters as famed heroes with grit and power and unmatched courage as though they were naturals, perhaps born that way. But were they? Were they ready? Could they have been more ready? Would the war have been even a little less hard-fought and bloody if their parents had any inkling that they were about to be sent to war even a year prior…two years prior? Imagine if the midwives of the early-mid 30’s handed the mothers their baby boys and said, “Congratulations, it’s a boy who will be at war in 14 years”. They would have most assuredly been raised and trained differently.Some of those men we read about now were not, in fact, men when they left home. They were boys. They were forced to become men when they arrived in France. How would their moms have been training them if they had only known what the near future held? Would they have taught them more, babied them less, or spent more time with them?

As Christians, we must realize that we are in a war. Yes! Christ won already, and “all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Him”. He is in charge of it all. However, that made us part of the winning team….it didn’t take us out of the battle. We still have marching orders to take dominion (Genesis 1:28) and to proclaim Christ to the world (Matthew 28:18-20). There is a very real Kingdom battle waging all around us every day and we have to ask ourselves, are we getting our children ready for their part in the war? Are we ready to shoot them out as arrows against the darkness? (Ps. 127:4)

Unlike many of the moms who were forced to send their young sons to fight in France with no prior knowledge, God has given us ample preparation and clear marching orders in order to raise men and women to fight victoriously. The way we faithfully prepare our children for active duty is through discipleship, literally reproducing followers of Christ.

First, what is discipleship as defined in scripture? Deuteronomy 6:7-9 says, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Discipleship is a command to parents. Discipleship is an all the time and everywhere you go job. Bottom line- as parents, we are always discipling. It isn’t a program. It is a way of life.

Second, what are we discipling toward? In essence, what is the aim? These two sets of verses set it up and then this is repeated in scripture… Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” And also, Deuteronomy 6:17-18a, “You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” We are to train our children to love the Lord God above all else and to obey Him and that standard of obedience is all of scripture.

The “Big Picture” marching orders are simply put. Train your kids to love the only true God who created the world, owns it, and runs it…. and to faithfully trust Christ who died and rose again giving us abundant life in Him.

It starts with us! Before the command is given in Deut. 6:7 to teach your children, it is clearly assumed that the parents are living this way already. Deuteronomy 6:6 says, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” We have to be disciples of Christ ourselves. Walking humbly in daily obedience and seeking the Lord above all else is the only way to be a faithful parent. Our standard is ALL of scripture and our own joyful obedience to that standard is vital if we want to raise children who will be victorious warriors alongside us.

This must start when our children are little. The Deuteronomic charge given to us is not age specific. It is assumed that it is life-long. The Dominion Mandate and the Great Commission are also for all people and all of life.

It is extremely vital that Christian parents start from day one, with a firm plan to keep God’s Word as the standard for the way the family operates. Everything, simply everything, has to be seen through the lens of scripture. That could potentially sound daunting, but the opposite is true. Following this Biblical blueprint is freeing and unimaginably joyful. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” Practically speaking, we maintain a steady diet of reading the Word, praying, and discipling our children to the same. All of Christ is for ALL of life.

Raising warriors who will follow our lead as we humbly love God, His Word and His people is how we can be faithful kingdom builders. From birth all the way to adults…. This is how we are called to parent. There are a few practical ways this is fleshed out.

1.      Pray constantly. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) We have to understand that God, who used whales, lions, pharaohs, emperors, talking donkeys, snakes, crosses and empty borrowed tombs to bring about lasting victory in this story we are in tells us to seek Him and that we will find Him (Matt. 6:33). He gave Solomon wisdom when he asked for it and He will give it to parents too.

2.      Sacrifice yourself. Deny yourself daily (Luke 9:23). This was how Christ lived, and it should be how we live too (Phil.2). This kind of living is energy depleting and selfless, but if we obey Christ and plant our lives as a seed in the ground… it will produce. God promises that it will.

 3.      Lead by example. First Corinthians 11:1 says, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” This is always important, and more so, when your kids are in the upper elementary and teen years. Kids notice everything and mimic everything. If you experience the terrible twos or the huffy teenage years….look in the mirror because it is probably from you.  If  we sow hypocrisy, we will reap pharisees. Loving the standard is the goal and this is best done as a whole family in complete fellowship with Christ.

 4.      Be jovial. 1 Thess. 5:16 says to rejoice always, and there are so many other references to joy in the Scriptures. Joviality produces courage as it infuses a deep trust in God in all things. The Joy of the LORD is our strength, after all (Neh. 8:10). This is abundantly true, and you will see that kids raised in jovial homes will be firmly rooted and grounded and ready to charge at anything.

 The boys who went to Normandy may or may not have been ready, but the war beckoned them just the same. The Kingdom of God beckons us to build and fight and to send our children out as warriors, ready to take up arms against a bigger evil. They need faithful discipleship all the way from our happy tears at their birth to the sad ones when they fly the nest. When they get sent out, will they be ready? Will they love and follow the standard, fight for it faithfully, and be victorious? It is our duty to make them ready. The world will never be the same if we do.