Godly Beginnings for the Family

Paul and Linda J. Bucknell

Starting Families Right

Purpose

Starting Families Right require wisdom. One must start right to end right. This infant parenting series shows how right attitudes, practices and perspectives are critical to raising a godly child. This serves as the introduction to the book: Godly Beginnings for the Family.

Start right; end right. This is the theme for our Godly Beginnings for the Family series. If we do things right from the beginning, then the quality of life is so much better.

Many of us have not started out right. In each of those cases more time, energy and money is necessary to straighten out the mistakes. Once a piece of metal is bent, it cannot be perfectly restored to its original tension and shape.

One example is the way I set up my file cabinet. Do I really want to improve the organization of my files after thousands of documents are stored away? Starting a family is similar.

If we start our marriage and raise our children correctly right from the beginning, then family life works out fairly smooth. Lack of good models and absence of biblical teaching prevent us from seeing the need for making certain decisions at the beginning.

Some of our present parenting practices does not reflect the long-term results we wish to gain. Wisdom is the ability to make the right decisions that result in long-lasting benefits.

If we are able to discern the end result of an action or practice, then we can make the best decision.

“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her” (Proverbs 3:13-15).

God clearly states that wisdom is from Him. Wisdom is readily seen in the creation around us but is especially easy to find in His holy Word. Wisdom not only grants us a good start but also keeps us living by God’s design that maximizes the beauty of our lives.

Godly Beginnings for the Family

Learning how to care for infants, before, during and after birth!

Click to order download (pdf) with study questions, footnotes, etc. or get the powerpoints and handouts.

Click here to view back cover! Smaller | Larger

The world is no longer family friendly. With a purpose to legitimatize their own selfish and immoral ways, the world informally and formally stands opposed to godly families. Here are a few of its manifestations.

• Birth control/abortion
  Children interfere with what I want to do with my life.

• Desire for mobility
  I want the freedom to do what I would like.

• Entertainment mentality
  I prefer having fun over working hard.

• Materialism
  I like having more money than spending it away on caring for children.

Christians are somewhat aware of these attitude trends, but rarely examine their own opinions, practices, or ways to see if they have been influenced by the world’s secular view point. Even if they do, they often pride themselves thinking their ways are better than God's own ways.

What is God’s own purpose for a Christian’s family? He wants to bring more and more people into His grand kingdom and share in His eternal rewards. He calls godly parents to raise up godly children so that this can be fulfilled. As parents we are to instill in our children the grand vision of God’s glorious holiness and love.

Future sessions will show how to practically carry this out with even the youngest babies! These issues radically shape our parenting practices and God’s goals for our families without us even knowing it.

The world’s thought system can easily penetrate our lives through our assumptions. An assumption is an idea that is believed to be true without proof. It bypasses our reason and is accepted as good or normal for our lives. These unquestioned assumptions are risky.

We would like to take this time to help you analyze your assumptions about these matters in light of God’s Word. These many issues lay a foundation for our future family life. The way we lay our family foundations will shape our own marriages and greatly influence the lives of our children.

Summary

Faithfulness in following God’s scriptural guidelines goes a long way in providing a beautiful model for the child to grow and learn. If couples do not start out right, then misunderstandings quickly develop between them.

Bitterness is stored up and a wall of mistrust builds up. This leads to all sorts of hardships in the marriage that is transferred over to the children. By starting off right, our children can instead learn love, respect for authority, self-control and how to solve conflict.

Next => Family Commitment
Parents' attitudes greatly dictate whether their children will be godly or caught in the snares of the world.

Biblical Foundations for Freedom ( BFF )

Rev. Paul J. Bucknell

info@foundationsforfreedom.net

Scriptures quoted from the New American Standard Bible unless noted
(C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1988