Beloved of God, among the manifold works which God has given to His Christian people, there is perhaps nothing more noble and honorable than bringing up children in the fear and love of the Lord.

There are, of course, other good works: feeding the hungry, ministering to the bodily needs of the sick, clothing the poor, visiting those who are imprisoned, and the list goes on. Yet, of all Christian works, instructing our children in the faith produces an eternal good, for Jesus promises whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes: Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).

That is the real question for today: what does it mean to train up our children in the fear and love of the Lord? Surely, it involves more than drilling them on various facts about the Bible with flash cards. A head can be stuffed full of information and be completely void of Christian love and charity. On the other hand, for a child to know nothing more of their faith than what they learned at age 5 or 6 in Vacation Bible School is not the right answer either.

What then are the duties of Christian parents? First, we must acknowledge that knowledge and Christian love should go hand in hand. Both are gifts of God the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes in Galatians 5:22–23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. If you compare that to the previous list given in verses 19–21, it is easy to decide what type of child you want to raise!

Lists are all well and good, but how is it achieved? First and foremost, by the grace and mercy of God, for we are not sufficient of ourselves. Parents make mistakes with their children as surely as pastors make mistakes with their parishioners. Thus, parents (and pastors) need to have humility and recognize that it is God who has placed them in their vocations and only by His grace that they and those under their care prosper. As Jesus tells his disciples, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

When it comes to our children, it is the fervent hope of every parent that they would get to see them prosper both physically and spiritually. One thing that is often forgotten, however, is that a parent’s example, how they live their lives- even more than what they say or tell their children they expect – influences the child’s perception of the world. Do you want your child to regularly attend church, to receive Jesus through the preached Word and His Holy Sacraments? Even if you say yes, what does it mean if God’s gifts are always or even sometimes playing second fiddle to sports or vacations or family time or sleep after a hard week at work? Our actions form a confession all of their own.

Yet it is not simply about going to church for we want our children to pursue good, beginning with being where our dear Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be in mercy for them, but also to pursue virtue. That means parents need to be godly examples of virtue, love, and charity in their own lives. If you want your children to be hospitable, you must show them by being hospitable. If you want your children to submit to your authority, you need to show them what honoring your own father and mother looks like. You need to show them what it looks like to submit to the authorities God has placed over you, in both the secular and spiritual realms.

It is this example of godly living along with proper instruction and love is what every child needs and how God our heavenly Father deals with us. He sent our dear Lord Jesus Christ both to bear our sins upon the tree of the cross and to be an example of holy living. Our risen Lord continues to grant us both encouragement and guidance through Holy Scripture. He also gives the right to call His Father our Father by faith. Thus, we live out our earthly lives, cheerfully putting our hands to plow and diligently pursuing the vocations that the Lord has given to us, especially raising our children to know and love Him.

The task often seems thankless, but your labor is not in vain! God the Holy Spirit will Himself strengthen you for this task, and He will prosper His work through you. For the making and the sustaining of Christians is God’s work, not ours. We are His humble instruments, as St. Paul tells us: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Therefore, dear friends, keep after it. Be diligent in prayer and know that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

In Christ,

Pastor Winston Grieser
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Kewanee Voice.