What is a Disciple?

It is often wise, as Maria Von Trapp sang to us,  to start at the very beginning, 'cause that's a very good place to start.  So, if we are going to produce disciples, we need to understand, WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

Lorne Sanny, former president of the Navigators disciple-making ministry, defines a disciple as someone who has three qualities: he is personally identified with Jesus Christ, she is consistently obedient to God's Word, and he is bearing fruit of two types.  First, there is Christian character.  Then he bears the fruit of leading others to Christ and helping them become mature disciples. 

Jesus Christ issued a simple call - it was the simple call of Jesus.  He walked up to ordinary fishermen and said, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).  Or, I will show you how to fish for people.  The Message says, "Come with Me.  I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you.  I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass."  Then it says, "They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed." 

Are we asking questions, or are we dropping our nets and following?  Our mandate is none other than this first, clear call of the Lord.  It is the simple call of Jesus: Follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men and women. 

When Jesus left this earth, He gave us what is called the Great Commission.  That mandate, to make disciples, involves, going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey all things that Jesus has taught.  How will we teach others all the things that Jesus has taught?  It is through the process of discipleship, or disciple-making.

What is discipleship?  Discipleship is simply the term we use to describe the process of teaching a new Christian how to follow Jesus and become a fisher  of men, someone who can lead another person to Christ and teach them to follow Jesus.  Robert Coleman writes, "The Great Commission is not a special calling or gift of the Spirit; it is a command - an obligation incumbent upon the whole community of faith.  There are no exceptions."  In Matthew 28:18-20, as Jesus ends His earthly ministry, He basically told us, "Continue in the simple call of Jesus."         

Wise churches evaluate all that we do in the light of the simple call of Jesus, the call to make disciples.  On that great Day of judgment, we will not be evaluated on how big were our budgets, on how beautiful our buildings, on our public image nor our many programs.  What will matter and remain on that day will be the answer to the question: Did you make disciples?

A shoe factory has one purpose: to produce shoes.  Regardless of the manpower, the effort, the money spent, if the factory does not produce shoes, it is missing the mark!  Likewise, a church can be very active in a variety of endeavors and still not be producing disciples.  

One leading evangelical British minister warned American believers, "Mark my words, North American Christians: Your large church buildings will be as empty as the cathedrals of Great Britain within a span of twenty-five to fifty years if you do not change your methodology."  Churches have methodologies as wide as Jonah's whale!  The methodology we must return to is that of Jesus.  His method was men and women: leading them to salvation, making them disciples, and teaching them how to become fishers of men.  Our ministry is people: spreading God's amazing love to them with the intention of making them fully devoted followers of Christ. 

Discipleship takes place through a number of avenues: family discipleship, one-on-one (or man-to-man), small group, systematic preaching-teaching, and personal growth. But the goal remains to produce disciples. 

There are five types of people in the world:

LOST PEOPLE, CONVERTS, DISCIPLES, WORKERS (or LABORERS), and LEADERS

Many churches are full of converts, those who have been born again into the kingdom of God.  However, Jesus told us to make disciples.  The word disciple means "learner" or "follower."  Learning has to do with knowing.  Following has to do with obeying.  Jesus described this well in John 14:21, "If you love me, you will obey me, and if you obey me, I will manifest myself to you."  That verse describes the life of a disciple.  He loves Jesus.  Because He loves Him, He obeys Him (as a follower).  And as he obeys Jesus, the Lord makes Himself known to the disciple (as a learner).  So as you obey Jesus you come to know Him better.  That is the pathway of intimacy - that is love. 

DISCIPLES ARE     . . .      

LEARNERS, knowing Jesus intimately,    and   FOLLOWERS, obeying Jesus immediately

    

The Four Characteristics of a Disciple

The learning and following of disciples is expressed through several characteristics.  These qualities of life will be found in a growing disciple . . .

1.  Abides in the Word of God (John 8:31-32)

Jesus said that IF YOU ABIDE (CONTINUE, REMAIN) IN MY WORD, THEN YOU ARE TRULY MY DISCIPLES.  A convert has not yet learned to abide, to live a lifestyle that is soaked in the Word of God.  The psalmist describes the person who meditates on the Word of God DAY and NIGHT (Psalm 1).  God told Joshua that the key to his success was meditating on the Book of the Law day and night. 

A disciple has learned to feed himself - he is not dependant on other people, his preacher, his teachers.  He gleans from these sources, but He knows how to go to the true Source.  He or she is a person of the Book.  As a growing disciple, he is learning have a grip on the Word of God by . . .

READING the Word, HEARING the Word, MEMORIZING the Word, MEDITATING on the Word, STUDYING the Word, and APPLYING the Word

           

2.  Obedience (Matthew 7:21; John 14:21)

A disciple of Communism obeys the teachings of Communism.  A disciple of an outstanding voice instructor follows the instructions of that person.  A disciple of an ice skater coach follows the directions of that individual.  So, a disciple of Jesus obeys Him.  How beautifully the fishermen illustrate this characteristic for us in Matthew 4.  Did you see that when Jesus speaks to them, when He calls them, the Bible says, "And they immediately left their nets, and followed Him."  The New Living translation reads that they left their nets at once and went with Him. 

A good litmus test for your own discipleship is this: When Jesus speaks, do you obey Him?  When the Holy Spirit speaks through God's Word, do you obey?  When you know what the Lord wants you to do, is your obedience immediate, or do you ask a lot of questions?  The Message says, "They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed."  If we don't obey God, it is because we don't love and trust Him.

3.  Spirit-controlled (Ephesians 5:18; Galations 5:16; Acts 6:5)

When the disciples walked with Jesus, they literally walked with Him.  They woke up in the morning, looked at Jesus, and thought, "Today, I'm with Him!"  In our day, in the Church Age, God has left us the Holy Spirit, the One who comes alongside of us to help us, to comfort, to convict, to guide, and most importantly, to manifest the Person and Power and Purity and Presence of Jesus in, through, and around us. 

It is only the Christian who is filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit who can please God.  The fleshly, natural, carnal Christian cannot please God.  Only the spiritual man, empowered by God's Spirit, can carry out the will of the Father.  At salvation we get all of the Spirit of God.  The appropriate question then, for the believer is not "Do you have the Spirit" but "Does the Spirit have you?" 

In the great Shantung Revival in China, what some historians call the greatest revival and spiritual awakening of Southern Baptist history, Martha Franks, Bertha Smith and others witnessed that a key to that mighty move of God was when many believers realized that they were not filled with the Spirit of God: He was not able to flow out of their lives (John 7:37-39) because self was on the throne instead of Jesus.  The Spirit is poured out when Jesus is on the throne!  Bertha Smith wrote, "If He sees that we are clean, and that He is in complete possession of us, He will fill us just as He filled the tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple when they were dedicated to Him."

Are you filled by the Spirit of God?  Are you walking under His direction and in submission to His leading?  Smith said that "there can be no fullness of the Spirit without a life of yieldedness."  Are you yielded?  Are you resting in His ability? 

4.  Fruit-bearing (John 15:8,16)

In the Old Testament, the Lord filled His house with His glory.  And that glory evoked tremendous awe and worship from His people.  After God later removed His glory, it was not until Jesus Christ came to this earth that the glory returned.  Then, just before He went back to the Father, Jesus explained how that glory would remain in this world: "This is how My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples" (John 15:8.)  Today the temple of the Lord is filled with glory through the process of fruit-bearing.  Those Christians who are fruit-bearing disciples bring the Father glory.

First, we can bear the fruit of godly character.  As the Spirit controls us, He produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23) and the fruit of righteous living through our lives.  So, when you bear patience, joy, love, gentleness, and when you obey God, the temple is filled with glory.  Second, as you give witness to others of Christ's work, you are empowered to be His witness, leading others to Christ and then helping them to be His disciples, God is glorified.  It is this process of making disciples of other people, taking converts and teaching them to obey, to walk with Jesus in the details of life, that brings the Father glory.  And is that not the simple call of Jesus?  Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.       

In closing, Matthew 4:19 gives us this picture of disciples.  They are abiding in the Word of God, that is, they hear and appropriate what Jesus says.  Then, they are obedient, and their obedience is immediate.  They are responsive to the person of Christ, as today we are to be responsive to the Spirit of God.  And they embark on the journey of becoming fruit-bearing disciples, fishers of men.

Oh, Father, bring Yourself glory in and through our lives.  Teach us to be Your disciples.  And make us Your vessels whom  You use to make disciples both here and around the world.  And keep our nose to that mandate.  We love you.  Thank you that as we obey you, you will make us know you more and more.  To your name be glory.


Pictures used by permission from Pixabay

Review

1.  What is the simple call of Jesus?

2.  What is discipleship?

3.  What is a disciple?

4.  What are the four characteristics of a disciple?

5.  Today, what brings the Father glory?

Easter Memories

Holidays, particularly religious ones (the word holidays is derived from the words holy days), carry with them a lot of memories that invoke various emotional responses.

Easter reminds me of decorating Easter eggs with my mother using the PAAZ egg dye kit.  I remember seeing my grandparents every Easter, usually at their house.  We enjoyed egg hunts and Easter baskets.  I have very fond church memories from various Easters.  I received my first real Bible from my parents one Easter - a bright yellow "Good News" one, which still sits on my shelf today.  I was baptized by my pastor on Easter Sunday, 1982.  I remember big Easter musicals the weekend of Palm Sunday, singing hymns like Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and always having a new Sunday-best outfit to wear.  (I especially liked a green sports coat I was given when I was in about the 6th grade!  Hamricks was usually the place to shop!)  Our church had a cross outside each year, and on Easter Sunday we would all bring fresh flowers to fill it up with color!  And I recall every year ABC playing Charlton Heston's The Ten Commandments from 7pm-11pm.

My own family now has some of our holiday practices, many of them similar to those of my boyhood.  We have never done the Easter Bunny with our children.  We weren't terribly opposed to it, but church jobs always required one of us to be out of the house early Sunday morning before children awoke, so we made it our habit to give our children Easter baskets from us on the Saturday before Easter.  (We chuckled then and still do now thinking about when our then 5-year old came home from church one Easter and said, The children in Sunday School were talking about some bunny coming to their house this morning!  What are they talking about?)

Easter offers wonderful opportunities, whatever your practices, to talk with your children about the essence of the Christian message - that God loved a sinful world so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have a forever-relationship with Him.

Don't underestimate what children can absorb.  (One of the church-misnomers of our time is how we send middle and high school students to school where they learn algebra, chemistry, history, and foreign languages, yet we bring them to church and think that all we should do is play games with them thinking that they can't yet absorb the great truths of the Bible.)

And don't miss opportunities with your own family members and other people in the community to share biblical truths about the gospel message. 

Perhaps my most vivid memory of an Easter season was when I was in the third grade.  Our church did a musical called Hosanna the weekend of Palm Sunday.  I still have the cassette tape from that performance.  My grandparents came to attend with us, and I sat directly next to my grandfather.  I will never forget that when they came to the scene where Jesus was dying on the cross, my grandfather began quietly sobbing.  Tears were streaming down his face.  At that moment, in my little nine-year old thinking and feeling, I was deeply struck with the fact that this stuff is deeply real to him.  This matters to him.  His life has been changed by the cross.  He loves and respects God.   I remember that moment like it happened last week.  And I doubt I will ever forget it. 

Don't underestimate how your faith and your love for Jesus, shown in your own unique way, can deeply impact the life of another person - even a child.  Thirty years from now they may be remembering you from this Easter.

 

The Lord Allows Comebacks

Pastor Jack offers encouraging words on how the message of Easter reminds us of God's redemptive nature.  The Consummate Comeuppance.

Helping Children Learn About Easter

Great article about helping your child learn the real meaning of Easter.

Teach Your Children Easter Hymns

I hope you are considering how to lead your family in some devotions the next two weeks related to the cross and the resurrection.  The following is a resource worth your attention  by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Tada called Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart.  We have used this series in the past and will most likely use this resource some in the next two weeks in our home.

Family Fun Night: Dishonesty

Here is a great idea we used last night from the Proverbs: Family Night Tool Chest.

In order to show a good lesson and have a good family discussion on the consequences of lying, have each family member put a small pebble in their shoe.  Then have them go outside and walk around.  Then, give each person a spoon with a hard egg.  Mark start and finish lines and have family members race with their eggs.  (You will probably hear some groans as they race!)

Then go inside and read the following Scriptures together: Exodus 20:16, Proverbs 6:16-19; 11:1; 12:13.

Talk with family members about how a web of lies can become like the pebble in the shoe.  We can't outrun our lies, they cause pain for ourselves and eventually other people.  And they will eventually cause other people to stop trusting us.

We tied our discussion to the actions of Gehazi, Elisha's helper, in 2 Kings 5, and talked about the negative consequences of greed, deception, and dishonesty.

The Wilderness March

The following is an excellent poem by L. B. Cowman, author of Streams in the Desert daily devotional.

 

 

He was better to me than all my hopes;

   He was better than all my fears;

He made a bridge of my broken works,

   And a rainbow of my tears.

The stormy waves that marked my ocean path,

   Did carry my Lord on their crest;

When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march

   I can lean on His love for the rest.

 

He emptied my hands of my treasured store,

   And His covenant love revealed,

There was not a wound in my aching heart,

   The balm of His breath has not healed.

Oh, tender and true was His discipline sore,

   In wisdom, that taught and tried,

Till the soul that He sought was trusting in Him,

   And nothing on earth beside.

 

He guided my paths that I could not see,

   By ways that I have not known;

The crooked was straight, and the rough was plain

   As I followed the Lord alone.

I praise Him still for the pleasant palms,

   And the desert streams by the way,

For the glowing pillar of flame by night,

   And the sheltering cloud by day.

 

Never a time on the dreariest day,

   But some promise of love endears;

I read from the past, that my future will be

   Far better than all my fears.

Like the golden jar of the wilderness bread,

   Stored up with the blossoming rod,

All safe in the ark, with the law of the Lord,

   Is the covenant care of my God.

 

                                  L.B Cowman

When Families Pray

God has given us the real responsibility of discipling our children in prayer.  Home is the perfect place for children to learn to talk with and listen to God and to see such conversation modeled as a natural, daily habit.  - Cheri Fuller

Life Lesson:  Praying families release the life and blessings of the Lord.

George Barna said, "85 % of parents with children under thirteen believe they have primary responsibility for teaching their children about religious beliefs and spiritual matters.  However, a majority of parents don't spend any time during a typical week discussing religious matters or studying religious materials with their children.  Parents generally rely upon their church to do all of the religious training their children will receive."


Ten Tips for Praying as a Family

1.  Make praying on the go natural.  A great time to do this is when you drive your children to   school or other events.

2.  Pray over children as they sleep.  Kneel by their beds.  Lay your hand on their foreheads.  Pray for an outpouring of the Spirit on your children.

3.  Use table blessings to teach prayers.  Take turns in the family praying.  Sing songs or hymns as blessings.

4.  Use meal times for discipleship times.  Mealtimes may be the best time for engaging and teaching truth.

5.  Pray briefly before going to bed.  Keep it simple but consistent.

6.  Make a family prayer plan.  Monday - pray for a missionary, Tuesday - two friends, Wednesday - a people group, Thursday - thanksgiving, Friday - family members

7.  Teach them to pray Scripture.  Read a Bible verse and then pray it together.

8.  Use Christmas cards as prayer reminders.  Keep them in a basket and pick ones out during the year.

9.  Use a Christmas prayer garland during December.  Make a 24-link garland out of red and green construction paper.  Write on each one a different family, person, or ministry.  Tear off one a day and pray!

10.  Keep a prayer journal for your family.  Keep an ongoing, written record of God's activity in your life and family.  Write down specific things, character qualities, and Bible verses you are praying for your children and family.

The Home: Training Ground for a Lifetime of Trusting God

{Sorry for all of the inserts and extras.  I don't know how to get them out of the outline!}


How much it would please God if our theology came alive in our kitchens and bedrooms and backyards – the places where we spend time together.  Life and doctrine in a gospel-centered home.  A place where Scripture, in all its depth and richness, is believed and lived anew each day.  Where Christians are formed and reformed daily, where those who have yet to believe can see the influence of the Lord Jesus, morning and evening.  – Peter Schemm, Jr.

FOUNDATIONS OF THE THEOLOGY OF FAMILY

1.      God created man and woman in His image (Ge. 1:27).

2.      God blessed man and woman with the gifts of marriage, sex, and family (Ge. 1:28; 2:24).

3.      God gave parents the primary role of spiritually discipling their children (Dt. 6:4-9).

4.      God calls husbands to love and serve their wives and calls wives to submit to and respect their husbands (Eph. 5:21-33).

5.      God’s design is for marriage to be lifelong (Mal. 2:16).

6.      God wants to use our families to reflect Him and bear godly offspring (2 Cor. 5:20; ML. 2:15).

7.      God’s design is for families to unite and partner with the local church for the mutual purpose of evangelism and discipleship (He. 10:24-25; Gal. 6:1-2).

 

HABITS OF A GOSPEL-CENTERED HOUSEHOLD

Spiritual habits and disciplines are hollow apart from a genuine love and affection for Jesus Christ.  They tend to take on a “new bondage” if not.  The spirit of the Christian household is inspired by the love of God.  It is a disposition that consistently reflects God’s love through grace and forgiveness.  Our disciplines become a good means to a greater end.  The spirit of the Christian household is a spirit of redemption.

 

1.      Reading the Scriptures together. 

·         Scripture is the most important source for training.  The primary means of Christian formation.

·         Bonhoeffer taught that reading Scripture must be foundational to life in community.  A child hears and learns the Bible for the first time in family worship, the adult Christian learns it repeatedly and better, and he will never finish acquiring knowledge of its story. 

On the importance of systematic reading of chapters of the Bible . . .We must admit that the Scriptures are still largely unknown to us.  Can the realization of our ignorance of the Word of God have any other consequence than that we should earnestly and faithfully retrieve what was lost?

·         Reading Scripture must always be a priority in the Christian household – no matter what age a believer is, seven or seventy.

·         Read it regularly together – not necessarily daily but consistently.

·         Make it a goal for the habit of Scripture reading is “life together under the Word.”

 

2.      Practice catechesis together – formally or informally.

 

 

You have three priorities: teach, teach, and teach.  Evangelical churches are weaker than we realize because we don’t understand the confessions and doctrine.  Set new standards in teaching.  Understand the word “catechesis” and practice that art.  – J. I. Packer to pastors

 

A catechism is a summary of Christian doctrine put in the form of questions and answers.

One excellent catechism resource is Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade

 

3.      Talking at the table together – the family table.

 

Perhaps the most underrated means to forming one another in Christ the family table.  Sharing a meal together as a family has fallen on hard times, and we are suffering the consequences.  Recover one of the most basic, most ancient ways of sharing life together – eating together dailiy – as a means of spiritual formation in the Christian household.

Martin Luther called meaningful conversation over a meal as “table talk.”

Some of Jesus’ most important conversations took place around a table – looking at each other, eye to eye, and eating together (Mt. 26:17-29; Mk. 14:12-26; Lk. 22:7-23; 24:13-35; Ex. 12; Rev. 19).

Our conversation in table-talk may vary from the mundane to the profound.  Talk about the weather and the big game.  Talk also about the gospel and repentance and God’s faithfulness.  It should not seem awkward or out of place when we talk about weighty and substantive things.  If it does seem awkward, that probably reflects the absence of regular, meaningful conversations.  Here are some questions that may help us to form one another at the Family Table:

What was your day like?                           What were the highlights of today?

What was hard for you today?                  How did God take care of you today?

How can I pray for you today?                 How can we serve and honor each other this week?

Here is what I read in my time with God today.  What did you read or learn from God? 

 

4.         Declare His wonders to your children (Ps. 71:17-18).

 

It’s the personalizing of what the Lord has done for us that really carried impact and weight with our kids.  When wisdom from the Bible can be paralleled with a parent’s personal testimony – it registers biblical truth for a child in a way that nothing else can.  Telling your family’s tribal stories to your kids makes the work of God active and alive to them and helps them recognize that His blessings are available today.  – Jack Hayford

 

a)      Tell your children how the Lord saved you (Ex. 12:24-27).

b)      Tell your children about the Lord’s provision for you (Ex. 16:32).

c)      Tell your children how you’ve failed but the Lord forgave you (Nu. 16:38).

d)     Tell your children how God has guided you (Jo. 4:5-7).

e)      Tell your children how God has delivered you (Est. 9:26-28).

f)       Tell your children about God’s judgment and mercy (Joel 1:2-4).

 

5.         Speak blessings on your children (Prov. 18:21; Nu. 6:24-26).

We can bless through an arm over the shoulder, an embrace in a time of disappointment, a pat on the back, a whisper in the ear, a snug tucking in bed, or a kiss on the cheek.  However, the most affirming are spoken blessings.  Words that affirm and approve, words that compliment, words that speak love and affection, words that give hope and confidence, words that answer pain and disappointment with support and faith.  Life is transmitted through spoken blessings!

How to Bless Your Children

{Sorry for all of the inserts and extras.  I don't know how to get them out of the outline!}

Ps. 145:4; Prov. 13:22; Mt. 18:1-14

 

Life Lesson:             Jesus values children greatly, so we should bless them intentionally.

 

Matthew 18:1-14 . . .

Jesus uses children as a model for our salvation (1-4).

Blessing or hurting children has great consequences (5-6).

Make haste to not hurt them (7-9).

Treat them very special – bless them (10-14).

WAYS TO BLESS THE CHILDREN AROUND YOU . . .

1.                  Declare His wonders to your children (Ps. 71:17-18).

 

It’s the personalizing of what the Lord has done for us that really carried impact and weight with our kids.  When wisdom from the Bible can be paralleled with a parent’s personal testimony – it registers biblical truth for a child in a way that nothing else can.  Telling your family’s tribal stories to your kids makes the work of God active and alive to them and helps them recognize that His blessings are available today.  – Jack Hayford, Blessing Your Children

 

a)      Tell your children how the Lord saved you (Ex. 12:24-27).

b)      Tell your children about the Lord’s provision for you (Ex. 16:32).

c)      Tell your children how you’ve failed but the Lord forgave you (Nu. 16:38).

d)     Tell your children how God has guided you (Jo. 4:5-7).

e)      Tell your children how God has delivered you (Est. 9:26-28).

f)       Tell your children about God’s judgment and mercy (Joel 1:2-4).

 

2.         Speak blessings on your children (Prov. 18:21; Nu. 6:24-26).

We can bless through an arm over the shoulder, an embrace in a time of disappointment, a pat on the back, a whisper in the ear, a snug tucking in bed, or a kiss on the cheek.  However, the most affirming are spoken blessings.  Words that affirm and approve, words that compliment, words that speak love and affection, words that give hope and confidence, words that answer pain and disappointment with support and faith.  Life is transmitted through spoken blessings!

 

3.         Establish protective boundaries.

Know your children’s friends.                       
Be the “heavy” when necessary.

Monitor the entertainment.                            
Talk with your children.

Be the watchman over electronic devices.     
Sanctify them by God’s truth.

 

4.         Create a family culture marked by freedom and fun.

Create a family culture and environment that make home life and the family a sanctuary where children can grow up in Christ.  Make your home a haven and hub of ministry and activity.

5.         Teach them how to worship God and serve others.

            Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship by Robbie Castleman

Parents teach their children how to make beds, hit baseballs, figure fractions, and shop wisely.  How are we training our children to worship God?  James Dobson says the first seven years of a child’s life are “prime time” for this training.  He asks the following two questions of parents: Is your child learning to behave properly in church – to worship God?  Is he or she learning to honor the Lord’s Day as a day of worship and rest?  Teaching your children to worship, parenting in the pew, is entering the house of your heavenly Father and saying, “Daddy, I would like you to meet my children.”

 

6.         Practice Tom Elliff’s Ten Commandments of Parenting . . .  (taken from Letters to

Lovers: Wisdom for Every Season of Your Marriage by Tom and Jeannie Elliff)

The Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32) as a story about one father’s love for his family.

 

1.         Don’t allow past disappointments to alter your present determination.

2.         Practice and teach the optimistic faith view that every problem can be solved by God and following His plan.

3.         Build into them a sense of godly principle.

4.         Set the standard for forgiving.

5.         Do not dwell on past mistakes.

6.         Go out of your way to ensure family harmony and unity.

7.         Make certain that you properly respond to proper behavior.

8.         Deal with your children according to their God-given personalities.

9.         Do not overlook golden opportunities to teach scriptural principles.

10.       Be home with them.