What is my responsibility as a Christian parent?

When the Lord blesses parents with a child, He entrusts them with a tremendous responsibility to raise that child in His ways and to establish a foundation early in the child’s life that is built upon Jesus Christ. (Deuteronomy 6:1, 2, 7)

When our children are still young, it is our responsibility to dedicate our children to the Lord, better described as “family dedication” and involves making a public vow (i.e., in the presence of the congregation) to raise our children according to God’s ways rather than our own ways. (Ephesians 6:4)

However, our commitment to raising our children in the ways of the Lord doesn’t end there. The following is a list (though not exhaustive) of some of the things we can do as parents to keep our vow.

1. Pray for our children constantly

Our responsibility to pray for our children does not end at their dedication. It continues until the day the child commits his/her own life to the Lord (Job 1:51) and beyond. Praying for our children and their needs and inviting them to pray with us should become a daily practice.

2. Teach them the ways of the Lord

Ephesians 6:4 and Proverbs 22:6 teach us that we need to bring our children up in the way of the Lord. Apart from the obvious forms of instruction, which involves bringing our children to Children’s or Youth Ministry, personal day-to-day instruction is needed to help our children understand how to view moral and ethical decisions from God’s perspective. If we instruct our children in God’s way while they are young, these lessons will develop godly character in them.

3. Be a living example of Christ to them

The number one witness to our children is the godly example set by our own lives. Therefore, we must continually examine ourselves and our witness to our children. Proverbs 20:7 says, “The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.” The main reason for the blessed state of this man’s children is that they have someone to look up to and use as an example from which to model their own behaviour. So, we must strive to be that example to our own children, even as Christ is our example.

We believe the best way to assure that you are that witness is through a disciplined life of studying the Bible, prayer, fellowship, and serving. As you do this your life will reflect the very character of God more and more each day and your children will witness that reflection.

4. Discipline them in the same manner the Lord disciplines us

The book of Proverbs (i.e., 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 29:15, 17) teaches many practical aspects concerning the discipline we are to provide for our children. For example, it reveals that by chastening or disciplining our children, we are showing our love for them.

However, this brings us to the motivation for discipline. Any discipline we give to our children should be done for their profit and not as a release for our own anger and/or frustration. The key is to discipline our children in the same way the Lord disciplines us. (Hebrews 12:5-11) God never strikes at His children in anger, and we shouldn’t either. Instead, we should explain to them why we are disciplining them, we carry out that discipline, and then—most importantly— we show our love for them just as God has shown us His love.