Be Wise About Parenting Series

Sermon Series – God’s Wisdom: More Valuable Than Gold David Owens

Sermon #11: “Be Wise About Parenting” 7.7.24

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 22:6, 15; 29:15

A. Allow me to begin with a short poem by Michael Hodgin:

Child-raising theories did abound, before my children were around.

Then one day I had my own, now all those theories I disown.

Energy was once my friend, now I am at my strength’s end.

Fortune gone, the fridge is clean, my child has now become a teen!

B. Many of us have “been there, done that.” Amen?

1. I don’t have to tell you that raising children is a challenge.

2. Certainly, it is difficult to raise kids in today’s world, but actually, it has been difficult to raise them since the very beginning…just ask Adam and Eve…you try raising Cain!

3. One mother was considering the challenges she was having with her children and said to herself, “I guess if it was going to be easy, it would not have started with something called ‘labor’.”

C. Today, as we continue our sermon series from the book of Proverbs, I want us to talk about wisdom and parenting.

1. I know that the second I say that we are going to talk about parenting that I am touching on both a very important subject and a very sensitive subject.

a. It’s a very important subject because it impacts earthly life and eternal life.

b. It’s a very sensitive subject because some who wanted to become parents weren’t able to, and others who became parents have experienced disappointment, failure and loss.

2. I also know that when I talk about parenting some might feel that this lesson doesn’t apply to them because they aren’t a parent or are past the years of parenting, but I want to encourage all of us to pay attention and learn about God’s truths concerning parenting.

a. We never know when we will need God’s truths or when someone will need us to point them to God’s truths.

3. As we discuss parenting, I want us to approach the subject realistically and compassionately.

a. None of us are or have been perfect parents, and we never will be perfect parents, but we can aim to be faithful and wise parents.

b. Some people here today may be really struggling with this task of parenting, while others may be having a much easier time of it.

c. How difficult or easy a time we have in parenting is dependent upon a myriad of things; some of which we have control over and some we do not.

D. Someone has said that raising children is like cooking - if you want something to come out well, you have to follow the recipe and you must not skimp on the ingredients.

1. I wish parenting was that simple and straightforward.

2. We all appreciate the fact that if you have a great cake recipe, and are careful to use the same ingredients and follow the same directions, the cake will come out just as good every time.

3. But that is not the case with raising children.

4. Every child is unique and has their own temperaments and we parents are never exactly the same parents, from day to day and year to year.

5. These are some of the variables that lead to the fact that kids who grow up in the same home, with the same parents, turn out so differently and uniquely.

E. Nevertheless, even though parenting is not exactly like cooking, there are some similarities.

1. We do need a good and tested recipe to follow.

2. And we do need to try to be consistent as we follow the directions.

3. The very best directions we have for parenting come from God himself.

4. So, what I would like to do with the rest of our time this morning, is to review God’s recipe and directions for parenting that we find in Scripture and most specifically in Proverbs.

5. Although I have 38 years of experience as a parent and have learned some things about parenting over the years, but my confidence and your confidence should not be in the preacher’s expertise or experience, but in the authority of God’s Word.

F. Let’s start with something rather obvious: Parents can be a great blessing to their children and children can be a great blessing to their parents, but on the other hand, parents and children can also bring each other trouble and hardship.

1. What determines whether it is blessings or troubles that parents and children bring to each other depends on each of their obedience to God’s will and ways.

2. The Proverbs teach that having spiritual and loving parents in a healthy home is a great asset to children, and so children should have a vested interest in supporting their parents.