A Parent's Role

<p>Good morning, Five Minute Families! Parents, have you ever paused long enough to think about what your biblical role is in your child’s life? Not just your earthly role of feeding, cleaning, clothing, and teaching roles to avoid neglect, but truly, why did God put you together as a family? </p><p>A role is defined as “the function assumed or part played by a person in a particular situation.” In psychology a role includes “a coherent set of behaviors expected of an individual in a specific position within a group or social setting.” Each of us has a role to play in our family unit. Some of us will fight those roles for various societal or selfish reasons, but as parents who have chosen to bring children into the world, we must take some time to think about our role in our kiddos’ lives.</p><p>Remember this essential truth - we do NOT own our kids. God does. The old adage “I brought you into this world so I can take you out” is fundamentally false and not biblical! GOD weaved our children together. HE brought them into this world, not us. As He states in Ezekiel 18:4, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine.” Five-minute parents, we are simply stewards of these precious blessings whom God has entrusted to us.</p><p>So, if we are stewards of our children for a select time because “[t]he earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD” (Psalm 24:1), then we must adopt that thought of 3 John 1:4 that we will “have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” </p><p>Now that we have established the core biblical belief that our children are God’s and not our own and the thoughts of focusing our time and efforts on seeing our children walk in His truth, let’s explore five of the primary set of behaviors that a godly parent should exhibit in his or her role.</p><p>As mentioned at the beginning, we do have to meet our children’s physical needs, just as 1 Timothy 5:8 points out, “But if anyone doesn’t provide for