Parenting with these three principles in mind will be a help and a blessing to you and your family.

Practice

The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6).   Training is practice for the real thing.  Training involves exercise (Hebrews 5:14) and muscle memory.  Military service calls preparation for  service Basic Training.

Joe Frazier, heavyweight boxing champion said, “You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts you’re down to reflexes and that’s where your road work shows.  If you cheated on that in the dark of the morning, you are getting found out now under the bright lights.”  The world doesn’t offer training to Christians, the world makes every effort to undo any training that your children had.

Preparation

Along with the first principle of training is the truth that preparation must be done while the environment is controlled.  If you fail as a parent to use the time you have now to prepare your children, there is no chance for them to learn what they need to learn.

Daniel 1:3-4 tells of Daniel, Shadrach, Mechach, and Abednego being hand selected by Nebuchadnezzar to serve in his palace.  These boys had learned in Judah what they needed to learn to face the world.

If you’re children cannot learn in the safe environment of the home and local church where people love them and want the best for them, they will not stand a chance in the world.  Do what you can do now.

Priorities

Every human being has the same amount of time in a day whether you are a child or a king.  Success is determined by how you manage that time.  Joshua 11:15 says of Joshua that he left nothing undone of all that God commanded Moses.  You will have to leave things undone and the real question is what are you going to leave undone.  That will determine your success.

We are good at making priorities out of things that God didn’t make priorities out of.  Jesus Christ said of the Pharisees they did a lot of things, but they left the weightier matters of judgment and mercy undone.  What you leave undone will determine what kind of Christian you are and the same goes for your children.

Interestingly enough the things that God commanded never fight for your time.  It is always other things that demand your time.  That means that things that you ought to do have to be done on purpose.