Do you have goals for raising your children? My brothers, it is important that you have a target to compare all your decisions with. You can then ask yourself: Will the result of this decision keep us on track or take us off course? A target doesn’t guarantee you will arrive “there,” but you most likely won’t if you aren’t focused on the outcome you desire. (That was the primary topic in the session we presented called Building a Vision.) 

Consider David’s prayer request in Psalms 144:12. “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” David wanted children who were grown up (Gadal H1431) in character, desires, and conduct while at a young age. That goal is not popular today as evidenced by the spiritual condition of our country. 

Do you desire boys who will become real men of God? If so, that will require purposeful parenting. You want to bring things into their lives that will achieve the goal and eliminate the chaff of the world that prevents them from maturing. 

As Spurgeon said in The Treasury of David, regarding Psalms 144:12, “that the young men are, the older men will be.” Might that explain why the average professing believer/church member is more interested in having fun and a good time than serving and sharing Christ? 

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).