July 18
Courageous Parenting
Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage.
Psalm 27:14 NASB
One of my favorite conversation starters when I'm eating with other men or with a group of couples is "What is the single most courageous thing that you have ever done in your lifetime?"
When most people think of courage, they think of heroic deeds—like those done on battlefields distant in time and geography. But I think we need massive doses of courage if we are going to raise families according to the Scriptures.
Courage is demanded of parents who desire to do the following: - Establish godly standards and boundaries for how their sons and daughters are to relate to the opposite sex
- Impart God's perspective of sexual identity for men and women in contrast to a culture that is promoting perverted distortions of what God created
- "Intrude" into the lives of their children when they sense something isn't right
- Avoid conforming to the values of other Christian parents in terms of curfews, acceptable dress, movies, language, Internet use, etc.
Parental courage is needed if we want to raise a generation of young people who know how to withstand sexual temptation. It takes a battlefield mentality if we are going to give our children the kinds of standards they need to maintain sexual purity.
It takes courage to look your sons in the eye when they're 13, 18 or 24 and ask them if they've been looking at pornography on the Internet. But your sons need you to ask them. And, Dad, you need to be able to ask them with your own conscience clean. It takes courage to talk to your sons straight about keeping their hands off the girls. And it takes courage to meet with a young man who wants to take one of your daughters out for the evening—asking him to keep his hands and lips off your daughter!
The easiest thing to do is nothing. But that's how battles are lost.
Discuss
What is the most courageous thing you've ever done?
Pray
Ask God for the courage you need to stand strong in the battle for the souls of your children.
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