Parenting practicals in the 2015 Part 2

Parenting practicals in the 2015 Part 2

Luke 2:34-35 raising children is not a painless ambition. Children have a way of piercing our hearts and yet our relationship with them teaches us so much about Gods unconditional love for us.

--> Cowboys herding cats video from youtube <--

Raising a family and parenting kids is a lot like herding cats...lol

Luke 15:11-32 Imagine the context in which Jesus was sharing this story. Which son would you rather have? The one that ran off and squandered everything he had or the one that stayed home but had critical attitudes and is ungrateful. The younger son was full of sinful rebellion and the older son was full of sinful moral self righteousness! Both sons resented the fathers authority and both neither loved the father for himself. Which son do you want?

The challenge we have as a parent is to understand where our children are at. Without knowing what their sinful nature is there is no way to help mold and correct their character.

We need to study our children to understand how they learn and what motivates them. We have to refrain from manipulating and trying to control them emotionally. If your child is doing something that frustrates, embarrasses or hurts may not be right; however, we cannot manipulate or guilt them out over it. The frustration, embarrassment and feelings of hurt we have are our own and we need to work through them and take responsibility for what we can control.

When our children are living in irony, we do not need to run down the rabbit whole always ready to point out their flaws and issues. We do not need to get self righteous our selves and makes sure they know we told them so. The younger son came to his senses on his own. All the father did was wait and be ready to embrace his son when he was ready to come home!

What does Prodigal mean? Prodigal means reckless abandonment, reckless spending, reckless love. Who was the prodigal person in the story. We always assume it was the son and prodigal is a bad thing. The father was reckless in his spending and love and forgiveness!

--> reference to the book the Five Love Languages <--

Affirmation, Physical touch, Quality time, Acts of service, Gifts.

Which love language does your child speak? We need to love our children in the way they need to be loved. Most people are one or two of these different love language. Do you know which love language your child speaks? Loving your child in a love language that is not specific to them will only leave them frustrated and empty!

Malachi 4:6; Luke 1:17 God ends the new Testimate talking about the Fathers and their sons and God starts the new Testimate in Luke talking about Fathers and their sons! Fathers are crucial to the development of their children!

The final example from Luke 15 is that the prodigal father did not react with bitterness, anger or frustration from all the hurt and disappointment he received from his sons. He responded to both of them with humility and love!