A TLP Snippet 3: Parenting Until the End of Time

Thank you for joining us today on a TLP snippet, Parenting Wisdom in Five Minutes or Less. Today is my mom's birthday, and as I was going on Facebook as any good son would to tell the world how much I love my mother, I was reminded of something really important.

Parenting Truth That Lasts Across Generations

I was sitting there waxing eloquent about how wonderful she is when I realized that in my parenting there was so much that I do that is exactly like what she did for me. For example, I remember growing up and hearing my mom say repeatedly, it doesn't matter what anyone says, it doesn't matter what anyone does, you are responsible to God for your own reactions.

And I think she said that so many times to me that it really is ingrained in my head. I think sometimes when I hear it in my mind, I actually can hear the voice inflection that she used because she consistently repeated that phrase over and over and over again.

And guess what? I have found that in my own parenting, I have come back to that truth multiple times. I tell my kids, you know, when one of them annoys the other and the other one retaliates, it doesn't matter what anyone says, and it doesn't matter what anyone does, you are responsible to God for your reactions.

And that got me thinking some more, and I realized that, praise God, my mom is still alive. But you know, after she's gone, I don't see me not using that line. In fact, if I use it consistently, and if I use it as genuinely, and I use it as appropriately as my mother did, there's a very good possibility that my children will also grow up having heard that so many times, it will be ingrained in their memory that, Lord willing, when they have children, they will probably be tempted to say the exact same things to their kids when their children are responding incorrectly and wanting to blame their other sibling or friend or whomever else for their poor choices.

And then I realized it's kind of like my mom, in a way, is parenting my children. And then, potentially, it could happen with my grandchildren, and then my great-grandchildren into perpetuity, because she instilled in me lessons that, Lord willing, I can instill into my children, and they will instill into their children, and hopefully can continue going on.

And then I thought about my own parenting, and I thought, wow, will I be able to parent long after I'm gone? Will I be able to train my children in such a way? Will I be able to present truth in a way that they remember it and that they want to share it with their children?

Grounding Parenting in God's Truth

So I just want to take a minute on my mom's birthday, and I want us to think about this. How can we parent the same way my mom did? That the truth we share will be able to go on long after we're gone.

So here are the three things. Number one, what my mom said might not have been a Bible verse, but it was God's truth. And I tell you what, whether it's a pithy statement that we make up based off of principles in Scripture, or it's God's own words, that is the thing that we need to go back to all of the time.

Nothing is going to work better. Nothing will pierce like a two-edged sword better than God's truth. So first, we have to make certain that everything we say is grounded in truth. Number two, if you can, especially when you're dealing with younger children, take it and make it pithy.

Making Truth Memorable and Repeating It Consistently

Make it memorable. Obviously, any verse can be memorized. Any verse should be repeated frequently in your homes. But for example, when I'm working with the boys here at Victory Academy, one of the things that we do during devotions is ask the same three questions.

What does this teach us about God? What does this teach us about ourselves? And the third question is based off of those two, and what does that mean for us today? So we want to make certain that we're speaking God's truth, and we want to make certain that we're putting it into a clear, concise way.

And then the third thing is really just consistency. We need to be repeating these truths. It doesn't matter how accurate what you say is. It doesn't matter how pithy and memorable what you say is, if you only say it once.

The chances of a four-year-old remembering it long enough to apply it the next time there's an issue is very slim. And that's why my mom had to say it to me so many times, because I gave her so many opportunities to remind me of it.

So if we're speaking God's truth, and we're doing it in a clear, concise way, and we're doing it consistently, then we can know that we're helping our children to have these ingrained into their minds.

We're actually kind of giving them a mandatory memory system that will help them carry it into their parenting Lord willing, and pass it on to their children. I'm so glad you joined us on this TLP snippet, Parenting Wisdom in Five Minutes or Less.

And I hope you join us again on Tuesday, when we'll be talking about the fifth way to parent, the only parenting style that glorifies God. Have a great day.