Influence the Heart - Christ’s Commission Fellowship

  Influence the Heart - Christ’s Commission Fellowship

Your values and objectives in life will determine your parenting style. As far as the Bible is concerned, the most important thing you can do to your children is to teach them to love God with all their hearts. Biblical parenting produces children who are excited about the Lord because their parents are in love with Him. This is heart parenting. The heart is where lasting transformation happens. If the heart is not transformed, the change in behavior is only temporal.

BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE PARENTING

Build Relationship (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Spend time with your children. The closer your relationship is, the greater your influence will be. The closer children are to their parents, the more they are influenced by them and less by their peers.

Listen (James 1:19-20)

The key to knowing and influencing the heart of our children is listening to them. Listen more. Talk less. Do not lecture. The more you listen, the more you will understand them. The more you understand them, the more you can influence them.

Affirm (Ephesians 4:29; Proverbs 18:21)

Words impact lives. Many people look for affirmation elsewhere because their parents did not affirm them. Positive words affect your children positively and conversely, negative words affect them negatively. Be intentional in your words. Do not use words that tear them down. Speak encouraging words that will build them up even when correcting them.

Be a Good Model (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Modeling is the most effective way of teaching. Your children copy your positive and negative actions. You cannot tell them to do something that you yourself are not doing. They become what we are.

Cast Vision (Proverbs 29:18)

Vision gives direction in one’s life. The greater your vision, the greater the motivation you will have to achieve it. Parents must see the potential of Christ in their children. Parents should impart to them God’ grandeur and His special purpose for their lives. They need to teach their children that their present choices will impact the future.

What legacy are you passing on to your children and spiritual children? Begin to apply the principles of Biblical Heart Parenting to influence the hearts of your children and your spiritual children today.

Speaker: Peter Tan-chi