Resolved: That My Children Will Be Resolute in Christ!

Like most people, I set certain goals or resolutions at the beginning of every new year. Whether they are obtainable or not is a different story. Yet, I subject myself to it in hopes of bettering areas of my life that I feel I am lacking or faulty. I set out to achieve these goals by implementing a action plan or strategy. I seek God in prayer and wisdom and courage. I tell others to help hold me accountable. A lot of thought and intentionality is put into the process. In the middle of this process a thought occurred to me. What about my children?

The bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart." Proverbs 22:6 I have never looked at this verse as a promise to salvation for my children. Nevertheless, there is hope offered to the parent who chooses to intentionally raise their child to honor God. They key word is intentional.

To "train up" anything is to implement a strategy to achieve a goal. A runner trains his body to perform competitively for a race he hopes to win. A debate coach trains his pupils in rhetoric and argumentation to persuade a judge to vote for his perspective. In both cases there is intentionality and implementation. I believe the same must be done for our children.

To train up a child is to intentionally and prayerfully apply the word of God to their lives. Which means the parent must be aware of the child's spiritual needs and flaws. This also means that the parent must do something about it.

Before the new year arrived, I spent some time praying for my children. I specifically asked God to help me identify areas in their attitude and character that needed to be addressed. After much prayer and meditation, I came up with a list of goals for the children. These are areas of their life that Stacy and I see that could be catastrophic in their faith if not dealt with now. I'm sure there are more that will come up and I know that all them will be neatly dealt with in a year. However, they will be addressed because we are being intentional.

I do not believe in "ad hock' parenting. The more proactive we can be in our children's lives, the less leeway the world has to own them. The world will own them, that is for sure. We must fight for them and strategically implement ways to secure their faith. To do anything less is not parenting. And of course, I say all of this in the belief of God's sovereign grace.

Below are the goals we have set for our children. We have pasted them up all over the house; in their bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, dinning room, etc. It is not to be a reminder of how bad they are, but to remind them of who they can be. It also allows us to remember what we have set out to do. Most new year resolutions are broken within two weeks. This is their eternity! This could be the year they sell out to King Jesus! How cool would that be! As their dad, I want to do everything humanly possible to encourage their faith.

Naomi's 2011 Goals

1. To be content in all things. (Philippians 4:11; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5)

2. To let love cover many sins. (Proverbs 10:12; 1 Peter 4:8; Proverbs 29:22)

3. To walk in integrity. (Proverbs 10:9; Proverbs 28:18; Psalm 101:2)

4. To find her identity in Christ. (Romans 1:16; Philippians 1:20; Proverbs 31:30)

5. To trust in the Lord with all of her heart, soul, and strength. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 34:8; Matthew 22:37-39)

Ethan's 2011 Goals

1. To work as unto the glory of the Lord. (Proverbs 17:9; Proverbs 6:6-11; Proverbs 19:15)

2. To be slow to anger. (Proverbs 16:32; Proverbs 19:11; Proverbs 14:29)

3. To share generously. (Proverbs 11:24; Proverbs 3:9-10; 1 John 2:15-17)

4. To find his identity in Christ. (Romans 1:16; Philippians 1:20; 1 Peter 5:6)

5. To trust in the Lord with all of his heart, soul, and strength. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 34:8; Matthew 22:37-39)

We do have goals for Abbie and Abram. They are not as concrete as Naomi's and Ethan's. I have written them down in a journal and will reference it when needed. We have also set family goals. I will blog about them later.