Deuteronomy
6:4-9, 20-25
10-30-2016
Children
must earn our trust. This is a basic idea that we have heard all our lives. We
heard it from our parents. It is one of those lines that we repeat to our
children instinctively. “You got to earn
my trust” or “I lost my trust in you.” This is an unquestionable truth,
children should seek to earn and maintain the trust of their parents. Yet, what
if God expects you to earn their trust during their formative years just as
much as they are supposed to earn yours. What if a big element of raising our
children is earning their trust so that when they become adults, they would
know that they can count on us? Let be honest for a second…if you were your
child, would you trust you? If you were them, would you trust you to never discipline
out of anger, to never break one of your core promises as a parent or to never
take things too personally? Beyond the rules, God fights for our hearts. We
must do the same, otherwise we risk winning the battle but losing the child.
Talk about
the home you grew up in. What was the approach to rules and discipline in your
childhood home?
When you
think of your childhood, were the rules sometimes sacrificed for the sake of
the relationship, or did relationships become secondary to enforcing the rules?
How do you think that this has impacted your home, positively or negatively,
today?
Would you
rather spent a day when your children follow all the rules and behave perfectly
or a day when you experience close deep moments in your child relationship with
you? Why?
How do you
think that God would answer that same question when it comes to us?
How did your
parents work to have a close relationship with you? How they failed to do so?
How have this affected your relationship?
Read
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-25. Can they see the reality of these verses in you? How
are you fighting for the heart of your child today?
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