The “Christmas” Home

After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.'

A basic responsibility of Christian parents is to "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. The church is an extension of the home, one purpose of which is to help parents learn to train their children in the knowledge of God and the Christian way of life. Christian parents need to be taught how important it is to God that His children are reared in a loving, nurturing, safe, peaceful, Christian environment (And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 NIV).

A proper Christian education and upbringing in the home is dependent on a biblical philosophy that provides the right worldview and essential truths for life so that children may be prepared to assume their proper place in the home, the church, and the state. An attitude for proper childhood education must be based on the authenticity, authority, and reliability of the Bible as the complete and final revelation of God concerning all matters of faith, trust, practice, and morality. Children must be taught to view life from a Christian perspective. Christian parents must be taught, and in turn teach their children, that truth is that which God has declared truth and right is that which God has declared right. Such foundational beliefs enable parents to provide a consistent Christian environment in which Christian children can grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

In Ephesians 6:4 we learn that Christian parents have a primary responsibility to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. Negatively, Paul says in particular to fathers, “do not exasperate your children.” Positively, he says, “instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” We exasperate our children by being over-protective; by playing favoritism; by dampening their enthusiasm with discouragement and negativism; by bitter words and outright physical cruelty, or by neglecting to show interest in them and in their accomplishments; or by failing to remember and acknowledge that our children – as they develop into teenagers and young adults – have a right to have ideas of their own. They do not have to be copycats of their parents to be or become servants of the living God.

Raising children is a difficult and frightening task. Yet, to raise our children tenderly in the fear and wisdom of the Lord is our primary, highest responsibility. That’s why we should pay close attention to Paul’s positive words when he says, “…instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Christian parenting means that we “school our children in the ways of the Lord.” Our homes and our parental sphere of influence is the environment or school in which we teach our children the mind and ways and wisdom of the Lord. Our children need such reverence and knowledge. And we who claim to be Christian parents must make these elements of Christian discipline and instruction our highest priority.

As we celebrate the Christmas story, we learn that we, too, must establish a “Christmas” home, a Christian environment in which our families can grow in grace. When Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem soon after that Christmas morning when Jesus was born, they took Jesus home to Nazareth, to a nurturing environment, to a “Christmas” home. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.