PARENT RESOURCES
While Kids Ministry is now having Sunday morning activities at the church, we understand that there are some families who are not able to join us in-person. We want to stay connected to our families and continue discipling all our kids, regardless of whether they are here at The Heights or at home.
Each week, those of you joining us online can watch Kids Ministry live on our FACEBOOK PAGE Sundays at 9:30 AM. During this Livestream, kids will have the opportunity to worship and listen to Bible lessons from our wonderful staff and volunteers. We will also continue to have our Bible Review Activities and GodTime Devotionals posted to our blog as well as the church app.
Giving Grace to Your Child
Dr. Tim Kimmel, the author of Grace Based Parenting, spoke at a parenting conference, hosted by The Heights Church a couple of years ago. Throughout his book, Dr. Kimmel reminds us of the many ways to parent gracefully, and I would love to share with you some excerpts from this book.
Parenting with Grace
The most distinguishing part of the Christian faith is grace - a gift offered by God to undeserving people, that makes us fall in love with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace is what attracts us to Him and what confirms His love for us over and over. God's grace has the power to transform the most hardened soul into one overflowing with kindness. If this is the primary way our perfect Heavenly Father deals with us as humans, it should stand that grace is the best way to parent our own children.
Grace should affect how you handle discipline as well as how you process your child's fears and quirks. Grace keeps you from tearing down their spirits when they move through awkward transitions and adolescence. Parents should communicate nothing but acceptance for the unique characteristics and traits of their children. Showing your child grace this way will leave them with a love that is secure, a purpose that is significant, and a hope that is strong.
Grace Gives a Child Security
At the core of grace is LOVE - a love that stands strong regardless of our sin and comes to us free of charge.
"'Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed hi solve among us: He sent his one and only Son to the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and send his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:7-11
We can pass this kind of love onto our children. A love that is steady, sure, and available to them whether we are or not. As parents, we can do something while they are under our roof that increases their capacity to move into their adult years. Children feel secure love when they know they are accepted for who they are, receive regular and generous affection, and they know they are a part of a loving and honoring family.
Grace Gives a Child Purpose
There is a deep longing in the heart of every child to "make a difference"; not only were we made in God's likeness, but we were also given a need to matter. We were created as works of art to be developed and embellished. Ultimately, it is the parent's great influence that makes a child who they grow up to be. Parents are the ones who invest most of the time, put up most of the money towards their interests, and the ones who donated (in most cases) the basic ingredients for their DNA. Our children were born with a need to find a purpose in life. So how can we build this purpose into our own children? There are three main ways:
- Regularly affirm them (Psalm 139:14)
- Give them your attention (Matthew 18:5-6)
- Gracefully discipline them (Hebrews 12:7, 9, & 11)
Grace Gives a Child Strong Hope
Hope is the human equivalent of oxygen when it comes to our ability to live effectively. Take it away, and everything else becomes irrelevant. In the process of raising our children, we can transfer confident hope into the deepest parts of their being. God has given us ways to enhance this need through the Bible.
- Recognize their God-given abilities and liabilities and turn them into assets for their future. "Train up a child in the way he should fo, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
- Lead them and encourage them to live a great spiritual adventure. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
- Help them turn their childhood into a series of positive accomplishments. "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please the flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become wearily in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:7-9
In Conclusion
A family that is filled with grace have homes where children are given the freedom to be different, vulnerable, candid, and have the freedom to make mistakes. If you get these four things going, parenting challenges find reasonable solutions. God has given us guidance over these wonderful opportunities to make a difference in our children's lives. It's called grace-based parenting.
Weekly Challenge
I encourage you to grab this book and read it for yourselves. It will change how you parent your children! Here is a link to Grace-Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel:
Published on Oct 11 @ 1:08 PM CDT
