Family Discipleship Minute (2)

 The theme of this series is that you, Christian parent, are responsible to be the primary spiritual trainer of your children, and you should not relinquish this responsibility to anyone else. The purpose of this specific post is to continue last week's encouragement; you CAN do this. Last week's ideas were very logistical and practical. Today, the focus is more on spiritual reality that will, hopefully, inspire you to embrace this role and begin your family discipleship journey.

Last week's article proposed that lack of time, lack of knowledge, and lack of skill are three common obstacles causing parents to shy away from bringing spiritual formation into the home. The post argued that these obstacles can be overcome with some practical ideas, and today will expand on that to say that you can count on God to empower you to accomplish this.

You may have heard people say that God will not put anything on you that you cannot handle. I think that notion stems from a bad understanding of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." Clearly, this verse says that God will not allow you to face a temptation that you are not capable of resisting. Somehow, people have jumped from that truth to the idea that God will not give you assignments you cannot handle. The Christian life simply does not work that way. God gives us assignments we cannot handle to force us to rely on Him, and so that His power will be on display for us, and others, to see.

Think about the Israelites and their assignment to conquer the promised land. In Numbers 13 and 14 the people had to decide whether to obey God and enter the land or disobey. They chose to disobey because they did not believe they could handle the assignment. Forty years later, the next generation of Israelites faced the same decision. They entered the land and engaged the seemingly impenetrable city of Jericho. Joshua 6 describes the victory which was obviously accomplished through God's power and not that of the Israelites. This illustrates the principle above, God gives you assignments you cannot do so that He can accomplish it through you.

So it is, Mom and Dad. God is asking you to do a job that is daunting and harder than you can do by yourself. The beauty of it is that you do not have to do it by yourself. He, by the power of His Spirit, will equip you to train your children the way He wants you to. What you have to do, like the Israelites, is take that first step of obedience. Get started training your children and count on God to empower you to do what you think you cannot.

Some questions to think about. Feel free to discuss in the comments:

What obstacles do you face to discipling your kids?
What goals do you have for your children?
What accomplishments have you had in your life that were clearly due to the power of God?