Category: Parenting
The Family, in Perspective
One of the fascinating things about the New Testament’s teaching on family life is that so little is actually said. We all know that the family is the major component of any society and that its failure is a failure of the whole of society and...
Striving to Prevent the Everlasting Misery of Our Children
Puritan Richard Mather (1596-1669), grandfather of Increase, and great grandfather of the early American leader, Cotton Mather, once imagined children on judgment day, speaking to their parents. His words serve as a sober warning that we must be diligent to care for their souls: All this...
Seriousness In Children and Teens
It is increasingly obvious that children and young people in many evangelical churches are anything but serious about Christ. There are notable exceptions, but in many churches a cursory look at the behavioral signals put out by the young people reveal a profound disinterest. On the...
Proverbial Parenting
Proverbs 22:15 informs us that “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,” and one will search in vain to find any biblical indication to the contrary, that children are naturally inclined toward wisdom. Yet the Proverbs fall short of automatically labeling young children...
God Can’t Save My Child
The bumbling toddler that used to cling to your leg constantly has become a teen who would rather text than speak to you. What happened? Where did your once over-talkative little girl go? What has this lanky boy who grunts with downturned eyes during conversation done...
How to Invest in Your Child’s Conversion
Many parents of unconverted children have come to realize through sound biblical teaching that salvation is God’s work, not something they can accomplish on behalf of their children. They know that God must draw the child to himself by giving him a new heart if he...
Leaving a Godly Legacy
A good workman knows that it takes time to build a home that will last for decades. He skillfully lays the groundwork and refuses to cut corners as he pieces together a solid frame. In the same way, we need to build a spiritual foundation in...
Motives for a Holy and Careful Education of Children
Editor’s Note: Richard Baxter recognized the fact that conversion is God’s work, not man’s. He also recognized that children sometimes reject even the best biblical instruction and training. The strong language in the following piece is not directed toward those parents who have diligently instructed and...
Our Goals as Grandparents
It hardly seemed possible just a few years ago, but we are suddenly grandparents. Don’t get me wrong; they weren’t unexpected. The grandchildren were all preceded by courtship and engagement and weddings and honeymoons (and yes, at least nine more months). It’s also not like we...
Comfort for Christian Parents of Unconverted Children
All Christian parents wish that God would show us something to do that would secure our child’s salvation, and then “we’ll do it with all our might” because we love our child so much. Yet, God has not made salvation the effect of somebody else’s faith;...
