A wonderful friend of mine recently went to a conference at John Piper’s church, and was so gracious to share some of his teachings with me. This has weighed on me the most:
We must teach our children (and ourselves) to love God as all supreme and as most satisfying, not as the rescuer from hell, the healer of disease, or even creator of the universe.
If we only teach our children that he meets our needs, then they don’t need God once the need is met. I am afraid I am guilty on that point. As I am learning to love God as all supreme myself, I am challenged in how to teach my children. I think showing them the scriptures will be the best way to teach them the character of God, not just examples of what He does for us. Those are very important, too, but they must not be the only way my children learn of our God.
Any thoughts to share?
Um, no wisdom on parenting from me, but if you like John Piper, his books are on sale online for $5 this week. Here are the details:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/690_all_books_for_5/
Thanks, Karen! I got that email, too! I hope to order tomomrrow!
Kim,
I am also learning that how I pray makes a huge impact on my understanding of God. If I only ask God for things or thank Him for what He has done then I am acknowledging that God is just for requesting and receiving. But if I talk to Him and ask Him His thoughts and tell Him how I love Him, not because of anything but that He is my Father. Tell Him how I feel about this relationship. That His character is goodness, faithful, loving, strong,etc. then I am learning and my children are listening to me enter into relationship not just about how He is the giver of all good things. There’s something to this Father/Child relationship that is about my desiring Him above all else. That because of this relationship I am able to be most satisfied in Him. Haven’t got it all figured out but I’m meditating here.
thanks for making me think out loud a little!