Notes from Jeff Massey’s lesson on Sunday July 2nd at West Side Church of Christ, Young Life Class
Disposition Toward
Psalm 127:3-5 ESV
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Matthew 19:13-14 ESV
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Pray
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Examples:
Abraham and Ishmael
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Genesis 17:18 (NKJV)
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. Genesis 17:20 (NKJV)
Hagar:
15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Genesis 21:15-17 (NKJV)
Train/Model
Model Exodus 34:6,7
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Parent’s Train Children
Proverbs 22:6 ESV
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV / 49 helpful votes
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Fathers Train Sons
Ephesians 6:4 ESV
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Mothers Train Daughters
Titus 2:4 ESV / 102 helpful votes
And so train the young women to love their husbands and children,
Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
Manage
1 Timothy 3:4 ESV
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
Teach faith
2 Timothy 1:5 ESV
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
Reiterate
Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—
Teach wisdom
Proverbs 10:1 ESV
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
Discipline
Proverbs 3:12 ESV
For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 13:24 ESV
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs 29:15 ESV
The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Proverbs 29:17 ESV
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. Proverbs 23:13 ESV
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Proverbs 19:18 ESV
Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. Hebrews 12:7-11 ESV
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Compassion
Psalm 103:13 ESV
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
“But the power of a mother’s compassion is not only found in the tenderness of Christ; we see it in the enduring love of the Father for his children when he says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isa. 49:15). And “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river . . . and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isa. 66:12-13). In our Father’s steadfastness, he compares himself to a mother who nurtures her children, carrying them close, feeding, and comforting them.”
Hebrew word for Compassionate in Exodus 34:6 is Rakhum which is related to ‘womb’
Understand
Ephesians 6:4 ESV
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Colossians 3:21 ESV
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Provide
Husband sustains physical life
1 Timothy 5:8 ESV
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
2 Corinthians 12:14 ESV
Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
Mother provides physical life
Luke 11:27
While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”
1 Corinthians 11:11-12
“However, woman isn’t independent from man, and man isn’t independent from woman in the Lord. As woman came from man so also man comes from woman.
Proverbs 23:22 ESV
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old
Examples:
Abraham and Isaac
Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-32 ESV
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. …
God the Father
Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Kings of Israel – Bad
1 and 2 Kings
Hannah – 1 Samuel
Additional Tips
Be consistent
Be considerate and patient James 1:19,20
19 Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Think about your end-goals for your children – what kind of people do you want them to be? Expect to screw up and know it’s going to happen – Be honest when you do, apologize to your kids, and forgive yourself
Find someone to mentor you in your parenting
Seek advice from experienced parents .