The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/

Ephesians 6:4… And you, fathers, donotprovoke your children to wrath, butbring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.  (NKJV)

I saw an article on Facebook the other morning, posted by a Christian friend of mine, who has very much the same heart as I do…living for the Lord, and trying to show those around us how to live lives that will be pleasing to the Him…  This article she posted was titled…“What Little Girls Wish Daddies Knew”, that be viewed by clicking on the following link… http://tarahedman.com/girls-daddies-knew/

As I read through this list, I saw at least 17 of the 25 wishes of a 4-year-old, that I had failed at miserably in raising all 3 of my children…  You see, although I called myself a Christian, I was in no way living a life that even remotely resembled a true child of God…  The only possible way a parent can come even close to understanding how to raise a child “in the training and admonition of the Lord”, is to become a child of God, themselves…and then live their lives as a follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ… 

Number 1 on this wish list for a 4-year-old, was… 1. “How you love me is how I will love myself.”  Parents can in no way love their children, like Christ loves us…without the love of Christ dwelling with-in their own hearts…  I am reminded of this agape love of Christ, in the following scripture, penned by the apostle Paul, in…

Ephesians 3:16-19…  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through HisSpirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ toknowtheloveof Christ which passes knowledge; that you may befilled with all the fullness of God.  (NKJV)

Without being filled with “theloveofChrist which passes knowledge” (becoming a Christian, and then living as a Spirit filled disciple of Christ)…a parent is bound to fail miserably (like I did), at being able to live, act, speak, and love their child and those around them, as Christ loves us…

The answers to being capable of fulfilling all 25 of these essential needs of a 4 year old can all be found in the living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12-13)…the Bible… 

Another wish for the young child is for the parent/grandparent to listen with patience, as their child tells them how they are feeling…James 1:19-20…   So then, my beloved brethren, let everyman be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; ²⁰ for the wrath of mandoesnotproduce the righteousness of God.  (NKJV)  (Here is a link for 100 Bible verses on Patience… http://www.openbible.info/topics/patience )

Showing love for our spouse shows the child how they should treat others…Ephesians 5:33… Nevertheless leteachone of you in particular solovehis own wifeashimself, and let the wife see that sherespects her husband.  (NKJV)  (Here are 100 Bible verses on loving and respecting the wife…  http://www.openbible.info/topics/respect_the_wife )

Being able to control our anger, with love, patience, and a quiet spirit…is also on the wish list of a 4 year old…Proverbs 15:1…  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.  (KJV)   (Here are 51 Bible verses on anger management…  http://www.openbible.info/topics/anger_management )

By showing grace to the child, they will learn to trust God…2 Corinthians 8:7… But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in yourlove for us—see that youabound in thisgracealso.  (NKJV)   (Here are 56 Bible verses about Grace…  http://www.openbible.info/topics/grace )

Encouraging your child to find what brings joy, is one of the 25 wishes of a 4 year old…Romans 15:32… that I may come to youwithjoyby the will of God, and may be refreshedtogether with you.  (NKJV)   (Here are 100 Bible verses about Joy… http://www.openbible.info/topics/joy )

When you find contentment…so will your child…Hebrews 13:5…  Let yourconduct be withoutcovetousness; becontentwith such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will neverleave you norforsake you.”  (NKJV)  (Here are 100 Bible verses on Contentment…  http://www.openbible.info/topics/contentment )

Showing kindness, tenderness, and compassion will help encourage these virtues in your child…Colossians 3:12… Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tendermercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  (NKJV)   (Here are 104 Bible verses about compassion… http://www.topverses.com/about/compassion )

When you look down this wish list of how best to treat your young child, you will find that they all point towards Jesus Christ…  These are all attributes that are instilled by God into the believer with the Holy Spirit…  The apostle Paul refers to these “Christ like” attributes, as the fruit of the Spirit, in…Galatians 5:22-23…  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  (NKJV)

You can ask the Lord to forgive you of your past trespasses against others…but I believe that complete forgiveness (and ultimately, hopefully healing) can only be obtained when one follows the wise teaching of the apostle James (Jesus’ half-brother), found in…James 5:16…Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that youmaybehealed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJV)

As always, God’s Word is the beginning and the ending (Revelation 1:8) for how anyone will find a life worth living as a child of God…  A life that is directed by a loving Father, who will point the way for all of us on how best to train up a child…Proverbs 22:6…(and ourselves), on how to live in God’s will and God’s ways…

Heavenly Father, I pray that Your living and powerful Word, will urge all of us into spending time daily feeding our souls with Your spoken Word…Matthew 4:4…  I pray for Your guidance in our lives, and protection for all of Your children from the evil one…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ,  bruce r mills