Honorable Parenting

HONORABLE PARENTING

TITUS 1:6

One of the greatest gifts that God gives us is our children. Having children is something I would not have missed for the world. Words cannot communicate the love I have for my girls, and I know those here with children feel the same way about their children. Watching the grow and learn is a great experience. Although at times it saddens me to think that someday they will be all grown up and will move out and begin their own families.

It is hard for me to believe that my oldest is in jr. high and is no a young lady, and that my youngest is already in school.

Someone once said the only thing you can take to heaven is your children. Children are certainly a great blessing from God, although we might not always think so.

Bring up children is a great privilege, it brings with it many joys, but it also has great responsibilities. The world seeks to take your children, to take them down roads you do not want them to go. And while there are many influences in our children’s lives, peers, teachers, and so forth, God places the responsibility of on the parents to make sure that children are brought up right. As Eph 6:4 states, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."

In that same chapter in verse 2-3 children are told to honor their parents. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

Now while you may notice the Scripture does not give any other option to children, they are to honor their parents, it does not say honor them only if you think they are good parents, it just says to honor them. It does not matter what type of parents you have, God tells you to honor them.

But that in fact does not change the fact that parents need to raise their children in such a way that they are deserving of honor. There is such a thing as honorable parenting. And it is something you will not find in a Dr. Spock book, or in the psychological section at the book store, but it is found write here in God’s Word. How to raise your children is right here. That is what I want to talk about for the next couple weeks.

But how will we get there? Please turn with me to our passage for today, it will once again be Titus 1:6. That is page 1032 in your pew bibles. As you turn their keep in mind the context of the passage. Paul is giving Titus the qualifications for the elders of the church. These are qualifications that will lead to a healthy church, in turn lead to a healthy home, which enable the church to better impact the world for Jesus Christ.

"if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination."

We discussed what it was to be blameless, that is not perfect but above reproach. We talked last week concerning be husband of one wife, that if faithfulness, if a man cannot be faithful to his wife, he will not be faithful to the church.

Paul now begin to talk about parenting, what I would say is honorable parenting, Christian parenting. What I want to do is first take a look at the verse in particular, and then take a look at parenting in general.

First Paul state that the elders children should be "faithful children" Or we can say "full of faith". In others words an elders children should be believers. An elders children should have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Because if a man cannot win his own family to the Lord then how can he be expected to win outsiders. If his lifestyle is not one that his own children do want to emulate, then why would others want to follow it?

So according to Paul in order for a man to be an elder his children need to be saved. Now the problem lies in the fact that we cannot know someone’s heart.

There are people who act saved and who are not, and people who do not acted saved who are. So this is a tuff call. If the child denies the Lord outright, then the elder is disqualified.

Now before we go on I want to make is clear that we are not speaking of grown children who are out of the home. Paul speaking in 1 Tim 3 states "one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);"