Biblical Parenting 101

As many and most of you know God blessed us with a little girl yesterday, Kinsey Grace Kidd. We are overjoyed to have this new addition to our family! The pregnancy was a long one and somewhat complicated, so to have little Kinsey lying in the crib next to us is truly a blessing.

Over the past month I have been reading through the book of Colossians. In Colossians 1:25 Paul makes a statement about stewardship. As I began to think about that verse and my responsibility as a father I began to realize that I am not the “owner” of Kinsey and Caden but like Paul I am a steward of God’s creation. The more I thought about this the more God revealed to me that actually everything in this life is not achieved from anything of my own but everything is a gift from Him and I am nothing more than a steward of His gifts, blessings, and talents. C. J. Mahaney put it best in his book, Humility: True Greatness, when he said, “All parenting is ultimate preparation for that day when your child will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account.” Wow, I don’t think it can be put any better than that when describing how we as parents are nothing more than a steward of a life created by God.

When I view my role as a father as one who is responsible for someone else’s child and it is my job to prepare them for that final day everything changes. What I say, where we go, what we watch, what I buy them, who they hang out with, what they eat, everything is viewed differently. These children that God has given us are not our own, they are His. Think about how differently you would take care of the president’s car verses your own? I doubt you would let it go without regular maintenance and washing, especially if you didn’t know when he was going to ask for it back. The same holds true in regards to my role as a father. I am to care and prepare these children for that day when their true owner comes for them. What a high calling, yet what a huge responsibility. My prayer is not that my kids would grow up and get an education, find good jobs, and live happy lives (even though some of those things are important) but that they would grow up and be God fearing people because of the example that was set before them by their mother and father. I believe that this is the true definition of Biblical success in regards to being a parent. So please pray with us that God would grant us the true Biblical wisdom and knowledge to be faithful stewards of these beautiful children that we are blessed with.