GROWING

GROWTH

right now is important time in the life of our children and their parents that here this morning. This week marks the beginning of the school year. This time of year is important and valuable to the over all well being of a child. It’s important for a child to grow and learn and increase in knowledge. After all it is one of the fundamental stages in child development.

you might be surprised to know that even our Lord Jesus grew. He grew in 4 areas the bible tells us

Luke 2:52 NASB95

And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

kept increasing - (advancing) forward to cut. the wood cutters who cleared away wood and Forrest that impeded the armies progress. it’s movement forward, advancing, progressing, growing, learning, increasing etc.

one of the the things that we need to help our children learn and understand and something that we need to learn and understand is that we must always keep increasing in all four of these areas mental, physical, social, spiritual development.

imperfect tense - sustained activity. one of the greatest gifts we can teach our loved ones is a love of learning.

Jesus grew in wisdom (mental development)

Jesus and we ourselves as well as our children need to grow intellectually.

Christianity involves the whole of our being heart soul strength and mind.

it involves reading, reasoning, studying, learning, etc.

how will we ever be able to accurately handle the truth (2 tim. 2:15)

reasoning and persuading ;

Acts 17:2 NASB95

And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Acts 19:8 NASB95

And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

belief involves studying and knowing about Jesus and reasoning and coming to Him

im

Jesus grew in stature (physical development)

purity -

1 Corinthians 6:13 NASB95

Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

labor - laboring for the Lord

Romans 6:12–13 NASB95

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

allow our bodies to be useful for the Lord (exercise)

1 Corinthians 6:19 NASB95

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Jesus Grew in favour with men (social development)

how to interact with other people

how to share, talk, and treat other people

Christianity involves people, we can’t lock ourselves away and not be in contact with people the 2nd is like it love your neighbor as yourself.

we must teach them to active in good works to love the helpless, the widow the oprhan

develop a desire to serve others, to have concern for others even over themselves

i think this does involve showing them how important it is to have friendships with those of high moral character.

we need to help our children see and understand how they treat people matters

Jesus grew in favour with God (spiritual development)

how God views them

awareness of God and who he is and what it means to be a follower of Jesus

what we need to realize is that we as parents have a profound effect on what our children think and view God.

if our lives our not modeled after our Savior in other if we do not exhibit the traits of our Savior how will our children ever grow spiritually if they don’t see Him regularly in our lives.

how will they ever make God a priority in their lives if he is not one in ours

how will they ever walk in the footsteps of the savior if we as parents don’t

how will they be obedient to God if we are not.

Hebrews 5:7–9 NASB95

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,

our children learn form us and from their own study in God’s Word

It’s our job to teach them

Ephesians 6:4 NASB95

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Colossians 3:21 NASB95

Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

not to provoke to wrath - unreasonable commands; needless severity; manifestation of anger, lest by your continually finding fault with them, they should loose all courage, and despair of ever pleasing you.

train them

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 NASB95

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

discipline it might be unpleasant

Hebrews 12:6–10 NASB95

For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

7 WAYS TO HELP OUR CHILDREN GROW mentally, physically, socially, & spiritually