Discipling our Children - pt.1

In preparation for a talk that I have been asked to give, I have been thinking and praying about the topic "Discipling our Children." Not only am I somewhat reluctant to speak in public, but I find that the older I get, the less I know! So I am forced to rely on the Lord. And that is very, very good for me.

It is my heart's desire that all of my children are passionate about their relationship with the Lord~ so much so that I delight (most of the time!) in pouring my life into my children, with that outcome in mind. Certainly that is very good and profitable. I propose though, that if seeking and serving the Lord is not foremost in my life, all of the rest is for naught.


Consider the following quote from an Elizabeth Elliot devotional:

"Sometimes I am asked to speak to young people who are toying with the idea of being missionaries. They want to know how I discovered the will of God. The first thing was to settle once and for all the supremacy of Christ in my life, I tell them. I put myself utterly and forever at His disposal, which means turning over all the rights: to myself, my body, my self-image, my notions of how I am to serve my Master. Oswald Chambers calls it "breaking the husk of my individual independence of God." Until that break comes, all the rest is "pious fraud." I tell these earnest kids that the will of God is always different from what they expect, always bigger, and, ultimately, infinitely more glorious than their wildest imaginings.

But there will be deaths to die. Paul found that out--daily, he said. That is the price of following the way of the cross--of course. If our object is to save others we must be clear that we cannot save ourselves. Jesus couldn't either.

This scares people. Yet what is there to fear when Christ holds first place in our lives? Where, other than in the will of the Father, shall we expect to find significance, security, and serenity?"

Elizabeth says that "all the rest is pious fraud." My homeschooling, embracing a large family, serving my husband, yes, all falls in the category of "pious fraud" if I am not first placing myself at His disposal and allowing Him to reign supreme in my life.

Are there "deaths to die?" Most certainly.

I would have to agree with Elizabeth Elliot though that His plans for us are always infinitely more glorious than we could have ever imagined.

As we seek and serve Him first, then we are equipped to disciple our children aright. My desire is that my passion be serving the Lord first. Once that is decided, then discipling my children and all of the other things He calls me to do can be a worshipful response to Him.

My significance certainly cannot rest in my children, how obedient they are, how faithfully they walk with the Lord, etc. My delight, my satisfaction, can only come from seeking the Lord first and delighting in obeying Him.

Then I can "invite the glorious into the mundane"*....

there my heart is satisfied.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait.
And in His word do I hope."
Ps. 130:5

Waiting and hoping in Him,
Susan

* thanks Michelle @ She Looketh Well for the referenced quote above in a video posted a few days ago.