TLP 246: Parenting in Christ, Part 6 | what does it produce?

But there's no real passion, and drive, and fervor, and zeal to actually press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And to be honest, I'm getting a little tired of the excuses we all make.

Welcome to Truth. Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents. Here's your host, A .M. Brewster.

I know that what I'm about to say won't make a lot of sense, but it's so nice to be back with you. These episodes are obviously recorded in advance, but sometimes they're more advanced than others. Two weeks ago, I recorded a bunch of episodes because my son and I went on our third annual father-son road trip to the Chicagoland area.

So, for me, it's been a while since I sat down to record an episode, and I just want you to know that I always really look forward to it. I really miss this time with you, and I pray that it's as much an encouragement and blessing for you as it is for me.

And not only that, this episode was supposed to go out on Tuesday, and it's going out here now on Thursday. And I have to say, it really wouldn't even have gone out right now if it weren't for Nicole.

Nicole's a great friend of me and my wife and the ministry, and she came to our rescue to help us when we had a hard drive crash and we lost all the TLP data. Actually, we didn't. The drive was okay, but the hard drive had some other issues.

And she came in and she fixed it and she got it back to me tonight so that I could record and have this posted tomorrow morning. So, all of that to say, I'm so happy to be back with you again. And before we jump into the episode, though, I do also need to thank Josh and Heatherly and Taylor as well as Nicole for making today's episode possible.

Nicole may have fixed the drive, but Josh and Heatherly and Taylor gave financially, specifically to make this episode possible. If you'd like to learn more about how you can help TruthLove Parent continue to produce these free parenting resources without having to become like a technological genius who can fix hard drives, go ahead and click on the 5 Ways to Support TLP link in the description of this episode to learn more about who we are and how you can help.

Parenting in Christ Produces Divine Purpose

All right, let's talk about what parenting in Christ produces in our families. Last time we saw that, as always, God's truth must first resonate in our own spirits before we can hope to have it work through us into our kids.

And that trend is going to continue through this episode. But whereas last time we saw how being in Christ affects us, today we're going to look at passages that show how others are affected as we are affected by being in Christ.

I think you'll see what I mean in a minute, so let's begin. 1. Parenting in Christ produces divine purpose in our homes. We're going to read three passages to build out this point, but I want to expand on what I just said about how others are affected as we are affected by being in Christ.

In order for our homes to have divine purpose, we need to have divine purpose ourselves first. That means we need to know what it is and embrace it before we can pass it on to our families. Ephesians 3, 7 -13 says, Jesus' whole point on this planet was tied to God's eternal purpose.

And that eternal mystery was that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known. But that purpose has also been shared with us. 2 Timothy 1, 8 -9 reads,. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

When we entered into Christ, God gave us the same purpose and grace to achieve it that He gave His own Son. And we read something very similar in Ephesians 1, 7 -10. In Him, that is Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose, which He sent forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Part of the purpose is to unite all things to Him. So if we're parenting in Christ, it will give us a purpose in our homes that no one outside of Christ can have. Your home's purpose is to make known the manifold wisdom of God in order that God may unite your family to Him.

That, my friends, is your purpose. You're not here to have kids who are really smart or good at soccer or piano prodigies. Your purpose is to make known the manifold wisdom of God. Now remember what wisdom is.

Wisdom is the outliving of the knowledge and understanding of God's truth. We need to teach our children the fear of God, the knowledge of God, the understanding of God, and then how to live that out in life.

That is the wisdom of God, and anyone who submits to that truth and lives accordingly will obviously be in a relationship with God, following Him, and in Christ. So the first reality is that being in Christ gives our homes and our parenting purpose, but it goes so much deeper than that.

Parenting in Christ Produces God-Centered Action

Number two, parenting in Christ produces God-centered action in our homes. In Philippians 3 .14, Paul proclaims, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul understood his purpose, and for him, it was a goal toward which he passionately worked.

Sometimes I get the impression that professing Christian parents can state the obvious reality that their family should be living according to God's purposes, but it's only that. It's a mantra. It's something you say.

It's just a mission statement in a bulletin. But there's no real passion and drive and fervor and zeal to actually press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And to be honest, I'm getting a little tired of the excuses we all make.

Well, Aaron, that's nice, but that's not real life. Yeah, but you don't know my family. To that I say, yeah, but you obviously don't know my God. I've done this study in part so that we would be reminded of the overwhelming grandeur of God.

We've been able to see the amazing riches of God's love and provision for us, how it changes our view of Him and of ourselves, and how it equips us to achieve this grand and glorious purpose, the purpose for which our Creator made us.

We just need to be amazed and overwhelmed by the awesomeness of God and the puniness of us. And we will discuss this for all eternity in heaven, but for now we need to move on. So let's get more specific about the specifics of God's purpose for your home that you are to be zealously pursuing.

Parenting in Christ Produces an Atmosphere of Reconciliation

Parenting in Christ produces an atmosphere of reconciliation in our homes. 2 Corinthians 5 .19 says,. We discussed this passage in our How Do You Become an Ambassador Parent episode. The verse right after this one reads,.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. As ambassador parents, it's our responsibility to create an atmosphere in our homes that makes it easy to do right and hard to do wrong. Now that doesn't mean our kids won't fight hard to sin, but it does set the tone for our expectations in our home.

Whether it's the communication house, or our disciplinary system, or our code of conduct, or whatever else, it should be designed and implemented in such a way that we are deliberately drawing our kids to reconciliation with God and others.

And if we're living with a solid understanding of our passion for our calling in Christ, then it should become increasingly easier to make God's purposes preeminent in our homes. But as we dig deeper, we're going to find that we shouldn't simply be parenting our kids to be at peace with one another or apologize to each other when they sin.

Our grand purpose of parenting in Christ should be rooted in the gospel. So number four, parenting in Christ produces a gospel focus in our homes. 2 Corinthians 2 .14, God desires to lead those who are in Christ in a grand and triumphal procession.

But in the meantime, He wants us to spread the fragrance of the gospel everywhere we go. That obviously includes our home. Does your home smell of the gospel? When your kids' friends stop by, do they leave with the scent of the knowledge of God lingering on their minds?

In episode 111, we described fragrant parenting. That would be an amazing follow-up to today's discussion. It's part of a larger discussion, obviously, that includes evangelism parenting. But we need to realize that the gospel is more than leading someone to understand the crucifixion and resurrection and pray the sinner's prayer.

The gospel is the whole and entirety of not only the Christian's life, but also the purpose of the world. The universe was created so that God would receive the glory. Humans were created to live in relationship with Him so that He would receive the praise.

Eternity will exist so that God will bask in the preeminence He deserves. When we communicate to our children, either by addition or omission or substitution, that God is not their beginning, middle, and necessary end, we're doing them an eternal injustice by leaving out the most beautiful and life-altering reality in the universe, that God exists, that we owe Him our allegiance, and that a relationship with Him will change us now, tomorrow, and forever.

Yeah, but Aaron preachers and Bible teachers and seminarians might be able to do that, but I'm just a person who didn't grow up with Christian parents. I was saved later in life, and I don't know a lot about the Bible.

How am I supposed to create this gospel atmosphere in my home? Practice, my friends. That's all. Just practice. I'm still no good at it. These podcasts are all about what God is teaching me and how He's raking me over the coals.

This is us learning together how to do this. If you make just one change today and say just one different thing today because of this podcast, that's worthy of celebration. But even though I want to encourage you that this can be your reality, I also want to admonish you not to call God a liar.

There are a number of passages I quote often on this show— Matthew 5, 1 Corinthians 10 .31, Ephesians 4 .15— and I come back to 2 Peter 1 .3 more than any. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who's called us to His own glory and excellence.

If you want to grow in your parenting in Christ, then you're going to have to do what all of us have to do. You're going to have to grow in your knowledge of God through His Word. This harkens back to season 7 where we spent the entire season discussing the necessity of the preeminence of God's Word in our homes.

Only through the knowledge, understanding, and fear of the Lord can we live wisely. Is that important to you? It's not really hard or out of our reach. It's just different than that to which we're accustomed.

But do you have the passion? Consider 2 Timothy 2 .10, The gospel was so important to Paul that he was willing to endure absolutely everything so that the people he encountered would be in Christ as He was.

Mom and Dad listening to my voice today, If so, then you need to acknowledge that parenting in Christ must submit to God's purpose. And we should have a God-inspired zeal to accomplish that goal. So we search the scripture to discover that God has given us the responsibility to be ambassador parents who lead our children to reconciliation.

But most importantly, or specifically I should say, reconciliation with God through a gospel-submitted life. And remember, that doesn't merely mean that I introduce my kids to the wordless book. They pray a prayer and then we go back to talking about our sports and school and family vacation and friends.

No, at that point we need to bring sports back to God's expectations. We need to discuss school within the framework that recognizes God. We need to plan our family vacations in a way that repeatedly point our kids back to the Creator.

We need to interact with our friends in a redemptive, gospel-centered way. And we need to have that focus throughout our run-of-the-mill family lives. We have another episode called, Where is God Not Allowed in Your Home?

That would be another great follow-up to today. But lest you still feel overwhelmed by the immensity of the purpose God has for your parenting in Christ and how that will affect your family, let's turn our gaze to this final consideration of the day.

Parenting in Christ Produces the Power to Parent in Christ

1. Parenting in Christ produces divine purpose in our homes. 2. Parenting in Christ produces God-centered action in our homes. 3. Parenting in Christ produces an atmosphere of reconciliation in our homes.

4. Parenting in Christ produces a gospel focus in our homes. 5. Parenting in Christ produces the power to parent in Christ. Life is hard. Parenting is harder. If you are parenting in Christ, Satan wants to make your parenting fruitless.

He wants to distract you and dismay you. He wants to consume you and your family. And God calls us to resist him. Why? Because we know that the suffering that comes in this life is not only being experienced by every other parent in Christ, but because God has a purpose for it.

It's part of the necessary refining process when we're heated up and the dross is scraped off. Listen, sharpening and refining is sometimes painful. When you plant a tree, you often have to strap it to post to keep it growing straight.

It's not comfortable, per se, but it's necessary. And in verse 10, God promises that after we've experienced a suffering designed to produce steadfastness and maturity, God will call us to his eternal glory and will do four things for us.

A. He promises to restore you. This word refers to completing, mending, fixing, or perfecting. God is working in our difficulties through the attacks of our satanic adversary to develop us. Remember this.

God is parenting you while you parent your children. B. But he also promises to confirm you. This word carries the idea of screwing something into place. God is working in you as you are in Christ to fix you in place, in his purpose, in his calling.

And as we discussed in episode 224, your parenting is not in vain. God wants us to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. This refers to God screwing us into our calling. Moving on,.

C. He promises to strengthen you. God's not just going to perfect us and root us. He's going to give us the power to be immovable, but only as we're living in him. As we discussed in that last episode, only as we are putting on the armor of God so that we may stand against the fiery darts of the devil.

If we're just standing out there in our own self-sufficient nudity, we'll be run through by Satan's schemes. But when we clothe ourselves in the gospel and know how to handle God's word and trust him, we can stand immovable.

And we can be perfected and stand rooted with strength because our foundation is secure. When you parent in Christ the Lord, D. He promises to establish you. This word refers to laying a foundation. And with that, we've made full circle.

What does it mean to be in Christ? What is our foundation? We have faith and peace in God himself. Now, after I make a couple of comments, please allow me to close out today by reading a benediction from the book of Hebrews.

First, though, please share this episode and join us next time as we lay a foundation for season 10. Okay, here's the hope with which I leave you today. Hebrews 13 .20. Now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. And to that end, my friends, I'll see you next time.

Truth. Love. Parents. is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional premeditated parent. Join us next time as we search God's word for the truth your family needs today.