I just love the metaphor presented in this picture and wanted to tell you about some of my recent reflections that flowed from it.

This is the perfect picture of the hope I would have for my children. Notice the metaphors that surround her; money, sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, pornography (to name a few) - and she is totally centred on God’s Word. A fantastic image! And as Christians, isn’t this one of our most persistent concern for our children which we lay daily at God’s feet through prayer? Is it not also our own desire to do as the Lord instructs in raising Godly children like this?

Now for the reality check…

As lovely as this image is, the reality is much more … well … real! First, we know that our children, like us, are born sinners who will likely succumb to many of the temptations pictured above. As my friend Royce once wrote in a guest post on a previous site I hosted:

As the father of of 6 children I can tell you that babies are not born pure. You don’t have to teach a child to be self-centered. Children don’t need someone to show them how to lie, steal, covet, disobey or throw selfish temper tantrums; these behaviors come naturally to them. The primary role of parents is to instruct children NOT to be this way. You’ve never met a more thouroughly rotten person than a seven-year-old whose parents have been lax in the area of dicipline.

Second, as much more experienced sinners, we are more acutely aware of our constant sin-struggle and the need for God to rescue us and help us live a life that is pleasing to Him. Which leads to my third observation and concern. Raising Godly children does not simply mean teaching your children God’s rules and good theology. It means being the kind of role model for our children that Jesus is to us. And it is this last responsibility that plagues me most. I find that I am constantly undermining the good work that is meant to build my children up in the knowledge and trust in their Lord and Saviour, with behaviour that is quite unacceptable of a Godly role model.

But however personally unsatisfying this admission is, I found that there was something to be gained from it. First, to admit that I fail to live up to God’s standards and ask for His forgiveness and help, is exactly the kind of response that God expects of us. But there is another pay-off, an important one in the context of raising Godly children. I realised that because of my shortcomings, I now have an opportunity to model an appropriate response to God for my children who face exactly the same problem as me … sin.

In practice it goes something like this. Just before prayer at bedtime with my children, one of things we might talk about are the ways in which we have displeased God during the day (e.g. through our mistreatment of each other). Then during prayer I try to make it clear that I have done wrong and am in need of God’s forgiveness and require His help to change. My five year old especially reflects a lot on the things we discuss and pray about. For example he recently asked me, “Dad, how do I be good?” Now I don’t know about you, but those sorts of questions from your kids are extremely uplifting for me and I praise God  for them, because it is an indication that they are seeking to please God and focus on His will (like the girl in the image above) rather than their own.

If I had to sum all of this up in one sentence it would be this. Raising Godly children is not just about teaching them to obey God’s rules, but obeying those rules yourself and coming together before God in repentance when you fail.

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