\u201cI know my dad would kill me if he ever found out what I\u2019m doing,\u201d confided the worried teenager.<\/p>\n
Fearing a parent rarely instills obedience. In the early years, fear may serve to control a child\u2019s behavior. But as the child gets older, fear doesn\u2019t deter wrong behavior. Fear simply motivates an older child or teenager to hide wrong behavior.<\/p>\n
When a child fears a parent, a child does the right thing for the wrong reasons. Lacking a right attitude or obedient heart, a child soon learns to hide unacceptable and wrong behavior from the parent. A child\u2019s works hard not to get caught rather than to please God.<\/p>\n
The motivation for making right decisions is a desire to obey and please God, not simply to please a parent. Lacking the right motivation, a child who fears a parent simply avoids attracting the parent\u2019s attention. The child, fearing \u201cgetting caught,\u201d learns to look good in front of a parent and the parent\u2019s friends so that they will not suspect wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Fearing parents instead of fearing God produces children that become deceitful and hypocritical. They play the \u201crespect\u201d game in front of their parents while doing whatever they like behind the parents\u2019 backs.<\/p>\n
Fearing God teaches a child to respect both God\u2019s character and His commands. Respecting, reverencing, and desiring to please God motivate a child to be righteous. The child knows that God not only knows everything he does, but also knows every inner thought and motive.<\/p>\n
Fearing God teaches a child that God wants the best for us and isn\u2019t trying to deprive us of what we need. A child learns that fearing God produces the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to make the right decisions in life. Right decisions produce in children the ability to prosper materially, relationally, and spiritually.<\/p>\n
A parent teaches fearing<\/i> God by setting an example of holiness for a child. This example includes:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Saying and doing only what the Father says and does.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Loving and serving God heart, mind, soul, and strength.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Worshipping God with the child.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Praying with the child.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Never idly or vainly using God\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Teaching a child God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Living a morally pure life.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Being consistent in discipline, keeping promises, and obeying God\u2019s truth.<\/p>\n
In other words, a child learns to fear God by watching us as parents. Judi and I have learned that children discover how to fear God by watching our lives.<\/p>\n
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death <\/i>(Prov. 14:27).<\/i> Action Steps I\/We Need to Take<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI know my dad would kill me if he ever found out what I\u2019m doing,\u201d confided the worried teenager. Fearing a parent rarely instills obedience. In the early years, fear may serve to control a child\u2019s behavior. But as the child gets older, fear doesn\u2019t deter wrong behavior. Fear simply motivates an older child or … Continue reading “12 FEARING A PARENT INSTILLS A SPIRIT OF
\nDECEPTION AND DECEIT; FEARING GOD INSPIRES RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}