“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.
Deuteronomy 5:29 (NKJ)
29 ‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
When you have a heart after God and honor Him and His word then you will always be blessed and your children will be blessed.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (NKJ)
5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You need to walk the walk in front of your children. You need to be a DOER of the word – not just a hearer. You need to TEACH your children about God and teach them to love, respect and obey Him. Just because you are saved, does not mean that your offspring are born saved! They need to make their own decision to accept Jesus as their Savior. They are not going to absorb God’s word by osmosis either. YOU have to open your mouth and SPEAK God’s word and His will to them, so that they will choose to serve Him too. Children will do what we expect. Expect them to serve God and lead them by your example. You can’t push from behind – you must lead from out in front!
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 (NKJ)
12 “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law,
13 “and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
Psalms 78:1-8 (NKJ)
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
8 And may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
We need to teach GOOD things to our children – not bad things. All they learn from stubbornness and rebellion is how to be stubborn and rebellious. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree so make sure that your “tree” is healthy and that your “fruit” is the fruit of the Spirit! It is YOUR responsibility to raise your children in God’s ways – not the church or the pastor. They are there to back you up and reinforce the good things that you are already teaching your children.
Psalms 103:17-18 (NKJ)
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.
Teach your family to keep covenant with God because His mercy and grace are poured out on those who keep His covenant and upon the generations that follow them. If you love your children and if you want God’s blessings on them and their children – take time to raise them with a good understanding of God’s word and his covenant of peace with them and how incredibly much He loves them.