Mothering Godly Children In A Godless Society

Mother’s Day

Mothering Godly Children in a godless Society

Deuteronomy 6

May 12, 2002

Intro:

A. [illustration]

A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a houseplant.

They had used their own money to buy it and she was thrilled.

The older of them said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you. It was real pretty but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest.

1. Of course, mother’s are deserving of a lot of honor.

2. The old saying says that a mother’s work is never done.

3. And I believe that today, parenting may be harder than its ever been.

4. Today is often illegal to discipline children.

5. The media is filling our children’s minds with mush and rebellion.

6. There are few godly parents raising godly children and it is often difficult for children to have friends that are a good influence on them.

7. All of this leaves parents with a lot of frustration.

8. Add to this the dreadful problem of absentee dads and a mother is often left to go it alone in trying to figure out how to raise her children in this ungodly society.

B. So what’s a godly mother to do?

1. Where is a godly mother to turn for advice on how to raise godly children?

2. Well, one of the best places I know is the passage of Scripture that God has lead me to this week: Deuteronomy 6.

C. Deuteronomy 6:1-3, These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

D. Of course the commands that Moses was teaching them were the Ten Commandments that he had just recited for them in the previous chapter.

#1 You shall have no other Gods.

#2 You shall not make for yourself an idol.

#3 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

#4 Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy.

#5 Honor your father and your mother.

#6 You shall not murder.

#7 You shall not commit adultery.

#8 You shall not steal.

#9 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

#10 You shall not covet.

E. Those are the commands that God gave Moses to teach to the people and pass down to the children, so that they may enjoy long life.

1. Of course that is what we all want for ourselves and for our children.

2. We want to ENJOY long life in a land flowing with milk and honey.

3. And we want our children to ENJOY long life in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4. I know that Moses was speaking to the Israelites about the Promised Land, but it is certain that America is a prosperous land that could just as easily be said of it that it is a land flowing with milk and honey.

5. We all want to ENJOY long life here and we want our children to ENJOY long life here.

6. I know that our society has all kinds of other "new and enlightened ways" that they say are better than these, but what are the results we are getting from these new and enlightened ways?

a. Increasing teen pregnancies.

b. Increasing sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers.

c. Higher drop out rates.

d. Lower SAT scores.

e. More discipline problems.

f. School shootings.

g. Should I continue?

F. So how does a godly mother go about raising godly children in a godless society?

1. In the rest of this chapter I will show you five time-tested ways to raise godly children in a godless society.

2. Five essentials for raising children and enjoying long life; first…

#1: Love God and His commandments.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.