GROWING CHILDREN LIKE JESUS
When I was a young mother, a lady in our congregation was raising her little girl by “Dr. Spock.” This meant that when the little girl threw herself in the aisle during worship, her mother watched her roll around in the floor; and we all heard her scream at the top of her lungs. Eventually, the little girl would get up, and the service could continue. The parents offered no discipline, and there were many such events during the time I knew them.
We seem to be back in that era of no discipline, or very little. Parents won’t spank their children in public. They could be accused of child abuse. Even if they want them to stop doing something, they tell them over and over again, usually without the results they want. Even Christian parents seem to have adjusted to the culture in which we live by adopting this general attitude toward raising children.
I love thinking about Jesus as a child. I wonder how His brothers and sisters reacted to Him as they were growing up. I wonder what He created as He worked with His earthly father. I wonder about what He played with the other children. I have also been thinking lately about what it would be like to raise a child like Mary and Joseph raised. I decided to take a look at the things the Scriptures say about Jesus and think about what would have brought Him to feel, act, and think the way He did.
We don’t have to look any further than eight days from Jesus’ birth to see the first example this couple set for us. They followed the law by circumcising their son, and Mary was obedient in subjecting to the days of purification (Luke 2 and Leviticus 12). When those days of purification were ended, Joseph and Mary took their child to the temple to offer sacrifices, which were also commanded. Though those things are not commandments today, the example is that beginning at birth, Mary was obedient to God’s laws concerning her Son. If you are growing a child to be like Jesus, are you a Christian? Jesus was raised by parents that were devoted to God. They wouldn’t have been chosen had they not been.
Worship was very much a part of the Jewish lifestyle. This family attended services at the synagogue (Luke 4:16) and made yearly visits to Jerusalem for feasts (Luke 2:42). We can see the results of this training in Luke 2:41-47 when Jesus stayed behind at age twelve to talk with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Those that saw Him were amazed at His understanding of what the doctors were saying. He had obviously also been taught at home. Remember that the command from God was to teach the children all through the day, constantly reminding them of God’s commandments (Deuteronomy 6:5-9; 12:19-21). Do you attend worship services with your children? Do you teach them at home? Do you spend time with your spiritual family? To bring up a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, parents must take them where the Scripture is taught.
After Jesus’ parents found Him in the temple, Luke says that Jesus went home and was subject to them (Luke 2:51). Are your children subject to you? Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that children are to obey their parents. They are to honor their father and mother. Fathers are told not to provoke their children to anger, but they are to teach them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Fathers (and mothers) are to deal with their children in a prayerful way, teaching them what God expects of them.
Verse 52 of Luke 2 tells us the result of all the teaching and instruction Jesus received as a child. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Jesus grew up in poverty and an environment of manual labor. He grew up in a place far away from teachers and schools that would have been available in Jerusalem. In spite of these circumstances, He learned. He learned about prayer, forgiveness, how to serve, and how to love. He learned that life exists for heavenly things like worship, doing for others, showing hospitality, obeying God’s commandments, learning Scripture.
Jesus exhibits a perfect example of dealing with temptation. Matthew 5 relates the devil’s attempt to defeat God’s plan by tempting Jesus. This was not the only time Jesus was tempted, but this shows us how Jesus dealt with temptations. With each temptation, Jesus quoted Scripture. He knew it. He had it memorized. Do you encourage your children to memorize Scripture? Knowing the Scripture, being familiar with those same verses Jesus quoted, and knowing how to find verses in the Bible will serve your children well in resisting the temptations they face day after day. The devil won’t tempt them just once, either. He will tempt them as long as they live.
The results of His earthly teaching are seen particularly in two places, both occurring while He was on the cross. The love and respect He had for the mother who bore Him, taught Him, and loved Him is seen in His relinquishing her care to the beloved disciple, John (John 19:26-27). The other is His moving prayer to His heavenly Father, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Would it not be wonderful to see that kind of love and compassion exhibited in our children? We know there are no guarantees that they will never sin. There is so much influence from outside, but that gives us more reason to consistently do the things Joseph and Mary did so that our children will always know that obedience to God is the way to heaven.
There is nothing in the doctrine of Dr. Spock or the modern culture of child rearing that can compete with the Bible for raising children. I often hear people say, “Children don’t come with instructions.” That is simply not true. They come with the best instructions known to man, the Bible, instructions directly from God our heavenly Father.
Sandra Oliver