Watching the Movie, The Forge yesterday with my children reminded me of the teaching on Discipling our Children which the Lord asked me to do on our Parenting Community (Parents Raising Godly Children Community) in June 2024. I am inspired to share this again with every parent and I will encourage you to watch that movie also, The Forge.
What does it mean to disciple?
- A disciple is someone who learns or studies or follows someone or something.
- To disciple someone is to teach them about that person and what it means to follow.
- Discipleship is the condition or situation of being a follower or a learner of a philosophy, belief or person.
Jesus came to restore what was lost; our relationship with God and place in the Kingdom. He gives us a pattern of sonship and demonstrates the ways of God’s Kingdom. He did this through discipleship and charged those He successfully discipled to then go into all the world and do same till the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ!
Jesus tells us to “make disciples.” Disciple literally means “student, learner or follower.” To make disciples is to teach people about Jesus and help them to follow Him. How? In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” We can follow Jesus. We can tell others about Him. We can love God and love others and share the peace of Jesus like Jesus told us to. And in doing so, we are in fact making disciples.
How is this relevant in parenting?
”I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”“
Genesis 18:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gen.18.19.NLT
”It is true; I have singled him out as my own, so that he will lead his family and household to follow my ways and live by what is right and just. I will fulfill all the promises that I have spoken to him.”“
Genesis 18:19 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/gen.18.19.TPT
“The most important job you have as a parent is to train and disciple your
children.” Voddie Baucham
Parenting is God’s discipleship model/design and structure for raising godly seed and filling the earth with godliness (the ways of the Kingdom). God is counting on parents to disciple their children in the ways of the kingdom of God. And that can only happen when the parents themselves have been adequately discipled.
For parents, to make a disciple would mean that their children would grow up to being Christ-like, following Christ as a lifestyle and making disciples of others too.
It occurred to me that a probable reason Abraham didn’t have Isaac immediately God promised him is because he had to be with God first to learn His ways and purpose which he would then pass on to his own children.
”When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him again and said, “I am the God who is more than enough. Live your life in my presence and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants.”“
Genesis 17:1-2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/gen.17.1-2.TPT
The protocol was also repeated in Jesus’ call to His disciples:
“Follow me and I will make you fishers of others for me.”
The goal of discipleship is to make people know who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. We cannot make anyone even our children to follow Christ unless we can live exemplary such that they experience first hand through us who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. And this is not speaking to perfection or morality, but to having a sincere heart with God. If our children cannot testify of experiencing Jesus of the Bible through their daily interactions with us, His love, patience, kindness, integrity, character etc, then we’re yet to start. That is discipleship!
I had a discussion with a teenager who told me that she could see that her parent has drifted from the faith. She said he says all the right things but he doesn’t live right. I was amazed because the children indeed see us beyond what we think is obvious. They’re more convinced through our being than our sayings. God is either believable or otherwise to them through their daily interactions with us. Haven’t you heard of some pastors’ children going into rebellion against God and not wanting to have anything to do with the church because they saw the hypocrisy and double standards of their parents first hand while some have good testimony because of the examples of their godly parents!
We cannot give what we do not have. To disciple others, we must be disciples ourselves. Carrying our cross daily, following after our Master.
Therefore this is a call to becoming first and then discipling.
”The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,“
Acts 1:1 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/act.1.1.KJV
Jesus DID before He TAUGHT. And what he did flowed out of His BEING.
Parents – follow Jesus.
Show your children what it means to be Christ-like.
Talk about Him with them.
Share the hope you have, forgiveness, restoration, joy etc
Teach them who Jesus is and what it means to follow him.
Talk about Him when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Duet. 6:7).
Make disciples!
I pray for every parent reading this that the Lord will find godly seeds in our Children, we will be destiny partners with populating the earth with godliness through our children and may we be able to present our children to God as worthy stewards of His precious gifts in Jesus name, amen
I will like to hear your thoughts on this, how you have been Discipling your children and your renewed commitments to God towards this cause. Please share in the comments.
