"Bring them up in the Discipline of the Lord" = Raising children to be GREAT in the Kingdom of God = Being "slaves to all"

Hey GCT:  We are back from ATL and ready to finish up Ephesians 6, with Part 2 of “Your Calling as Parent.”  We will be looking once again into the only verse in the New testament that directly speaks to parents, Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  

Most likely as parents we tend to focus on the bringing them up in the "instruction of the Lord” but are not really sure about bringing them up in the "discipline of the Lord.”   To fully understand this command we have to look at the "discipline of the Lord" as not only punitive but even more so the insertion of habits in your life and your child's life that will be repeated again and again and again and again to bring about habits that mold Christian character that make much of God - being Like Christ.  

The discipline of the Lord has as its goal being like Christ, living life in the Spirit with His fruits being visible to all especially to those in our family.  We all want our children to love and obey the Lord but do we want them to be great in the kingdom of God?  Being great in the kingdom comes from the discipline of the Lord.  Being great in the Kingdom of God requires our children to be great servants… actually “slaves to all” as Mark 10:35-45 tells us.  Are we training our children through a discipline of opportunities for servanthood to others who are in need?  Do we expose our children to the most vulnerable people in our community who are in need?  Do you look to input into your schedule for your child to get outside of themselves through servanthood of others so that they can be “slaves to all" or do we primarily look to endlessly engage them in education, entertainment and sports?  If we as parents are not leading by being slaves to all we cannot expect our children to learn a heart of service or being “great in the Kingdom of God."  This is just one example of bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  Lets be in conversation about this as families and parents.  Lets discuss opportunities for our children to be engaged in the discipline of service and sacrifice as much as we are with providing them opportunities to excel in education, sports and entertainment.

I pray that the GCT body of Christ would commit together to bring up our children in the discipline of the Lord by leading them with our example of being slaves to all through sacrificial service to others.  And btw, we have opportunities like this every week during the summer on Wednesday nights to serve the must vulnerable in our community.

I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday.  I love you church, Steve