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Dec 28, 2024 06:00am

Home Discipleship

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“Mom, does everything have to be a spiritual lesson?” he said with a smile. I didn’t say anything,
but thought to myself, “Only on my best parenting days.” Being a parent is hard work. It is
especially hard when we understand the responsibility God has given us in bringing them up in
the discipline and instruction of the Lord. It is an awesome and heavy job. God gave my
husband and I just a few short years to teach, train, and instill our values. The days flew by, and
those days of “parenting” are over. All our children are now adults, responsible and answerable
to the Lord.

When they were young, it was our daily prayer that they would follow God. Before they were
even born, we prayed that they would come to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. By God’s
grace we can say, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John
1:4). As believers in Christ, it is our responsibility to pass on to the next generation the Word of
God. This is part of His plan for the promulgation of the gospel.

“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts”
(Psalm 145:4).

“Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children
another generation” (Joel 1:3).

“The father to the children shall make known thy truth” (Isaiah 38:19).

We didn’t do it perfectly. Even though our children had far from perfect parents, we did our
best to point them to the perfect Father. To know God and make Him known was the mission.
We strove to make His Word foundational in our home by teaching it daily. We wanted them to
know that the Bible is the most precious book we have. It is the inerrant (incapable of
mistakes), inspired (God-breathed), all-sufficient (completely adequate) Word of God. It is all
we need for faith and practice. We can never know it or study it enough.

We made the choice and sacrifice to educate our children at home. Those years gave us the
freedom and time to pour into them God’s Word throughout each day. We took Deuteronomy
6:7-9 to heart. “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy
gates.”

If your children are still home, let me encourage you to be purposeful with these years. There is
nothing more important than their relationship with the Lord. You can be the catalyst of that
relationship. If your children are adults and the years of parenting are over, remember that you
still have a role in discipleship. You can’t “produce” godly children, but you can make sure they have godly parents. The same is true if you have grandchildren. One of the greatest ways to
disciple your children and grandchildren is to live a life of pure faith before their eyes. When
Paul commended young Timothy for his unfeigned faith, he recognized the example set by his
grandmother and then mother (2 Timothy 1:5). When your grandchildren are visiting, see the
time as an opportunity to pass along the teachings of Jesus. Make sure that God is honored in
your home and when they visit it is a place of love, mercy, and grace. Home discipleship is
bringing the Great Commission into your living room. When we do this, we are filled with joy
knowing we have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, the Great Disciple-Maker Himself.