Ephesians 6:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” 4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Faithfulness This morning we looked at part 1 of a lesson dealing with our theme for 2017, “Faithfulness” We spoke of some important things that we need to raise faithful children These are things that we need to be active in when raising our kids

Faithfulness We discussed 3 important things this morning: 1. Teaching 2. Discipline 3. Example

Faithfulness 4. Prayer There isn’t a lot we can be truly successful at without the Lord’s help All the passages on prayer are certainly applicable to the idea of leaning on the Lord as we raise our children I Peter 5:7

Faithfulness 4. Prayer Job entreated the Lord on behalf of his children It’s the idea of asking for God’s help in raising up children after Him (Heb. 4:16) Philippians 4:6

Faithfulness 5. Protect As parents, we have a responsibility to protect our children We need to do our best to shield them from Satan’s attacks upon their innocence Matthew 18:6

Faithfulness 5. Protect Why would we want our children to be exposed unnecessarily to those who would cause offense? That’s why it’s so important to monitor cell phones, tablets, etc. Satan finds new ways into our children’s hearts

Faithfulness 6. Be involved/aware We need to be involved in the lives of our children, no matter the age Too often parents back away as children become teenagers This may be the most crucial time in the life of that child!!

Faithfulness 6. Be involved/aware In my time as a YM, I was always surprised at how some parents had no idea of what their children did Our children need to know we are there Err on the side of being nosy!

Faithfulness 7. Be diligent In all that we do in a spiritual way in this life, we must be diligent It takes diligence to remain faithful to the Lord in our lives (endurance – Heb. 12:1; Js. 1:12) It will take diligence to raise faithful children

Faithfulness 7. Be diligent Remember, it’s not over until our life on earth ends Even if your child strays from the Lord, don’t give up on them There have been many who have come back to the Lord!