Jesus of Nazareth . . . was a prophet,
powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
Luke 24:19

I have brought the Gentiles to God
by my message and by the way I lived before them.
Romans 15:18

Jesus was powerful in His words and His deeds.

In Romans Paul acknowledges his success in leading others to Christ came from not only his words, but the life he lived.

Never forget that our own attitudes and actions influence our children more deeply than our words.

Children Learn What They Live
by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

This poem hung on my wall when my children were young as a reminder that someone was always watching my deeds, even if they were not listening to my words.

(Check out the book, Children Learn What They Live.   In it the author expounds on each of the qualities mentioned in her 1954 poem.)

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In Matthew 6:1-18 Jesus talked of three duties of every Christian.  He gave instructions for giving, praying, and fasting.  In each case He said ‘when’ you give, ‘when’ you pray, ‘when you fast’ indicating these were duties not options.  I must confess that I taught my children to give and to pray, but never realized fasting was not just an option.

Fasting is a vital practice for every Christian. The discipline of fasting breaks you out of the world’s routine and causes your relationship with Jesus to go deeper.  And we should teach our children that we can give up a favorite food or activity from time to time to show God our love for Him. There are many Bible stories you can tell them of people fasting.  The most familiar is the story of Jesus fasting and the devil tempting Him. Here’s a fun video illustrating the story.

The following is an excellent video that explains fasting to children.

We as parents can set the example of disciplining our bodies as recorded in 1 Corinthians 9:27.  Ezra called the parents to a fast for their littles ones in Ezra 8:21-23.  We can powerfully affect our children by praying and fasting for them.

For a thorough explanation of fasting read Fasting: Opening the door to a deeper, more intimate, more powerful relationship with God by Jentzen Franklin.

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10% of what they read

20% of what they hear

30% of  what they see

50% of what they see and hear

70% of what they say in their own words

90% of what they say while they do something

With this in mind, we should provide learning opportunities which incorporate seeing, hearing, saying, and doing.  The Here A Little, There A Little lessons on this blog are designed to teach a Bible verse using as many senses as possible.

Some interesting statistics:

Children can recall 3 hours later 70% of what we tell them, and only 10% of it 3 days later.
They can recall 3 hours later 72% of what we show them, and only 20% of it 3 days later.
Children can recall 3 hours later 85% of what we tell and show them , and 65% of it 3 days later.

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God desires your children to get along more than you do – He calls it a good and pleasant thing!!!! But dealing with the sibling rivalry, among preschoolers especially, is anything but pleasant; it is an exhausting 24/7 job to deal with each disagreement or aggressive behavior.

Sibling rivalry must be dealt with patiently, persistently, and perceptively:

Patience is accepting a difficult situation from God without giving Him a deadline to remove it.  Be patient as God works in the life of your children. “We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy,” Col. 1:11

Persistence means purposing to accomplish God’s goals in God’s time regardless of the opposition. Don’t give up; you will see the fruit of your labor!! “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.” Galatians 6:9

Perception is discerning or seeing through a surface problem to root causes and then dealing with those causes rather than always punishing the surface problem.  “The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Why is your child refusing to share?  Why is he acting out?   Why does he push his sibling? We want others to understand when we have a bad attitude.  Try to understand why your child is having issues.  Ask God to show you the root causes and how to deal with them. He will never fail you when you ask Him to lead you. 

He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
Isaiah 40:11

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Whether you are struggling with behavior problems with your children or the methods of potty training, YOU know your child and the situation better than anyone else and GOD will lead YOU.

Just close the books!

Quit searching the internet!

Quit quizzing others!

and ASK GOD!

Search HIS WORD for direction!

We all need encouragement from others, but don’t substitute the fellowship with other moms for time alone with God.  In order to know what to do for your little one, you must spend time with the One who created you both.  He is ready and waiting to help.  If you let Him help, motherhood can draw you closer to God than you have ever been!

I am convinced that there is nothing a child goes through or a situation we go through that can not be handled with prayer and the Word.  An old preacher once said, “God works in the lives of children through their parents; and parents work in the lives of their children through prayer.” It always goes back to God.  Pray about EVERYTHING, no matter how big or small.

My favorite verse as a mom has always been 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is who calls you, who will also do it.” He has called us to the awesome and sometimes overwhelming responsibility and privilege of parenting – He has PROMISED to do it through us!!

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Then in 1 Kings 5:3-5 Solomon begins the task of building the temple, “You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

King David had a desire to build the temple for the Lord to dwell in.  However he was not able to build it because of wars surrounding him.  So he made preparation for his son Solomon to build it.  Solomon was glad to carry out this desire his dad had.  Solomon spent 7 years building the temple for the Lord.  This made his dad glad!!

Just as David made preparation for Solomon to build the temple for God to dwell in, fathers are to make provision for their children to build a temple. I Corinthians 3:16 points out that God desires to live in us now, “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Then children are to take the provision of instruction and training in the Word from their fathers and build their lives to be a dwelling place for God.  This should make a glad dad (3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.)

Spend the day making your dad glad and leading your children to make their dad glad!

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Hosea 4:6 . . .  You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children.

This may not sound quite fair of our loving God, but God knows what is best for us and our children and He wants us to desire Him above all, if only for our children’s sakes.

Deuteronomy 5:29 “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be will with them, and with their children for ever!”

Feel God’s agonizing to get people to obey His Word because He knows it is for their good and the good of their children.

Catherine Marshall in her book, Something More,  writes, “We are accustomed to the idea that we pass on to our children a physical inheritance – color of eyes, color of hair, even certain diseases: tendencies toward gout, diabetes, certain skin diseases. Handing down a material inheritance is such standard practice that the laws of every country make careful provisions governing wills, probate, death, and inheritance taxes.  It soon became apparent that just as we can inherit either a fortune or debts, so in the spiritual realm we can inherit either spiritual blessings or those liabilities (unabashedly called ‘sins’ in scripture) that hinder our development into mature persons.  These blessings do not come to us solely by heredity.  Obviously they are also passed on by example and by teaching – conscious or unconscious.”

Andrew Murray in How to Raise Your Children for Christ wrote: “Education consists not so much in what we do or say but most of all in what we are; and that not only when our children are of an age to see and judge but long before, even before their birth.”

Seeing how we so affect our children’s lives, we should take inventory of our spiritual lives:

1.  Have you accepted Christ as Savior of your life?

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

2.  Are you confessing known sin daily?

Psalm 19:12:  “…cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

I John 1:9:  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

3.  Do you value God’s Word in your life?

Job 23:12
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

4.  Are you spending time alone with God in prayer?

Mark 1:35:  “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He (Jesus) went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (If this were important in Jesus’ life, how much important is it for us?)

I highly recommend How to Raise Your Children for Christ to help you see how important your relationship with God is in the life of your child.

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You can’t expect a young child to sit down for very long in order to teach him. His attention span is about a minute for each year of his life.   That’s why you have to catch teaching moments like this verse says – while you sit, walk, lie down, rise up.

A walk around the block can become a lesson on safety and obedience by holding an adult’s hand in traffic. It also is an opportunity to sing about and thank God for His beautiful world.

Blowing bubbles affords the opportunity to sing “Jesus’ love just bubbles me over.”

Playing ball allows the teaching of concepts of up and down and the idea of sharing.

Picking up trash can be a lesson on helping and caring about those who come after you.

Here a little, there a little – teaching time is any time . . . and it’s fun!!

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.

Deut. 4:9 “But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the Lord do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

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It seems in every disappointment in my life, God has always used children to lighten my heart.

In this video, a baby is laughing hysterically at ripping paper.  The amazing thing is the paper being ripped is a job rejection letter the dad had just received.  How good is God to cause the baby to be so amused by the ripping of the paper and thus bring such enjoyment to the dad in the midst of his difficult situation!

Now click here, listen to this song by The Oak Ridge Boys, and ‘Thank God For Kids’!  Children truly are a gift from Him!

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Accomplishing this comes very easy for some people, but others find it more difficult.  We can claim some of God’s promises that apply here:
Philip. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
1 Thes. 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Ask God to help you ‘watch over carefully all that goes on throughout your household ‘(Proverbs 31:27)

Don’t beat yourself up if your gift is not organization -  but don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who do have that gift  -  it’s all part of ‘bearing one another’s burdens’(Galatians 6:2).  Some people really enjoy organizing and would be delighted to help. If that’s not you, you have different gifts that you can share. In fact, some people may tend to be so organized that they will need to learn from you how to sometimes  leave the broom and go build a memory!

Read 1 Corinthians 12 to see how the Body of Christ is to work.

The Christian Stay at Home Moms blog offers a book to help in organizing.

Involving Your Children in the Process

Deuteronomy 6 tells us to teach as we go.  You can make cleaning and organizing a teaching opportunity as you talk about how God was specific about organizing His house and we should do the same.

Give them age-appropriate jobs to do so they can feel a sense of accomplishment:
(Galatians 6:4 Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.) Lead them to memorize this scripture.

Be like Mary Poppins and ‘find the fun in every job to be done’.  Make a game out of cleaning – for example pretend that a bomb will go off if the job isn’t completed by a certain time;  or pretend that the president or Jesus is coming for a visit.  I like to lead children in a chant of (1 Cor. 3:9) – ‘we work together; we work together’ as we clean up.

Make a game of it:

And please don’t forget to ask for help if needed

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