8 Principals for Christian Parenting

These 8 principals are covered extensively in a series preached by Pastor Tim Conway of Grace Community Church in San Antonio, TX. Of all of the messages I've ever heard on the topic of parenting, these are by far the most powerful, biblical, and challenging.

Essential Principals of Christian Parenting

1. Christ-Likeness. Imitating Christ. It is not only the goal of every Christian, but it is the goal of us as parents to lead our children, to train our children, to discipline our children to be like Christ as well. This is based on the fact that every single characteristic of Christ that’s pressed upon you as a Christian somewhere, either in command or principal or example, the same things are somewhere in the Scriptures also required of your children.

2. Christ is to have preeminence in all things. Col. 1:18 “That Christ might have preeminence in everything.”

3. Just to be a Christian, Luke 14:33 says you must renounce everything. To be a Christian you must yield everything in your life to the authority of Christ, and that includes your children, your parenting philosophies, your ideas, your opinions—everything surrendered to the feet of Christ.

4. If you love son or daughter more than Christ, you are not worthy of Christ. Christ demands your chief affection, your chief love.

5. We are not our own. We have been bought with a price. And our children are not our own. Christ looks at everything and says “Mine.” He is the Master. He is the Lord. And we are the servants. And he taught us in Luke 17:10 to say “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

6. As our Master, he has given us 3 very specific commandments in the NT with regards to parenting and children, and He has given only 3 commandments.

• Matt 19:14: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.” It is imperative.
• Colossians 3:21: “Fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
• Eph 6:4: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

7. Our Lord gives special emphasis to one of these commands: “Do not provoke your children.”

8. Our Lord emphasizes fathers. “Fathers, do not provoke…” The more satanic (and distant from Christ) a society is, the more the fathers are turned against their children.