Job 37:24
“Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.”
What is it that causes someone to fear God? The verse above says, “Men do therefore fear him…” Something happened before the “therefore.” What happened is that when Elihu talked about God when he said that He was “excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.” These actions cause men to fear God. If these actions cause men to fear God, then the opposite actions would cause men to disregard Him.
Many Christian parents are unknowingly training their children to disregard God. As much as parents would like for their children to serve the LORD the remainder of their lives, their actions have done the opposite of rearing good godly children who fear God and want to serve Him their entire lives. According to the verse above, there are three actions that can cause parents to rear their children to disregard God.
The first action is giving credit to human achievement and not God. If you want your children to fear God, then they need to see that He is “excellent in power.” Far too many parents get more excited over the things of the world than they do the things of God. You will never train children to fear God when they see the world is of greater value to their parents than God. Your children need to see you give more effort in serving the LORD than you do with the things of the world. When they see you give flimsy excuses for missing church or not serving the LORD but see you overcome those same excuses to do the things of the world, then they will surmise that the world is better than God. Let your children see you give more effort in performing God’s work because He is “excellent in power.”
The second action is being dishonest in your dealings. You will notice that being excellent in “judgment” helps one to fear God. Your children need to see that you are honest with all you do. When children see parents who are not afraid to be unjust in their dealings, then they conclude that you don’t fear God because if you did you would be afraid to be dishonest. You may not think your children see your dishonesty, but they do. Children do understand when you think they don’t. There is no dishonest gain worth losing your children to the world. Always be honest so they will learn that you fear the LORD.
The third action is treating people differently. Living a life of “justice” will show your children that you fear God. In other words, don’t have two sets of punishment for your children. Always be consistent with punishment. If you are a leader, then let them see that you don’t treat them differently than others because they are your children. Being just in your dealings regarding right and wrong always sends the strong message to your children that you fear God.
Let me ask you, is your life training your children to disregard God? When you truly fear God, then you will be just in your punishment, honest in your dealings and will give a full effort to showing the excellency of God’s work. Certainly you should teach your children these things in word, but always remember that your actions make the greatest impact and are what reveal how much you truly fear God.