Raising Kids to Work Proverbs Work that Matters Pastor Troy Dobbs Grace Church Eden Prairie September 25, 2016 Every parent Grandparent Christian adult (for that matter) should be impassioned about influencing the Next Generation. If it s not on your radar it should be! And here s why: It is the biblical duty of every generation of Christ followers to see to it that the next generation hears about 1
the greatness of God & the Gospel of Jesus Christ! i You see, God does not drop a new Bible from heaven on every generation. Rather He intends that the older generation (having studied God s Word) will teach the new generation of believers, the biblical truth that they ve learned from the preceding generations. That said: What should we be passing along to our children / grandchildren? 2
We should implore them: 1) To love Christ completely / to love the Gospel. 2) To obey God s Word consistently. 3) To serve God and love people courageously. ii 4) To submit to the Holy Spirit continually. Those are core level / heart level life lessons they need! And yet there are other important truths / disciplines that will contribute to who they are / what they ll do in this world. 3
Not the least of which is becoming Hard working Productive Contributing members of society. Adults who glorify God at work! Now I m not here to laud one generation s work ethic over another nor am I here to bash everyone 18 and under as lazy and entitled. My goal is to help parents / grandparents & Christian adults get serious about pouring into the next generation. iii 4
As Psalm 145:3 says One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. iv For the record: The Church doesn t raise children parents do! The biblical pattern is for parents to introduce their children to a Godcentered, Bible-saturated vision for all of life. v The Church then partners with parents in discipling their children. Now there are lots of practical reasons why this arrangement is important! 5
First God has positioned parents to have the greatest amount of influence on their children not the Church. And yet, the church can assist because some kids don t have believing parents. Moreover, some single parent homes are so stressed and overworked that they need all the help they can get. So there are a whole range of competencies the church can bless parents with into order to build stronger homes! 6
However to be clear The Church is at her best when she comes alongside parents to reinforce what they are teaching. Accordingly, in our Work that Matters series I wanted to take a weekend to address the topic of Raising Kids to Work Hard. vi The last thing any of us want is for our kids to grow up lazy arrogant and entitled. Every good parent wants (I mean this positively) every good parent wants their kid to grow up leave home 7
and make it on their own someday. Right we all want our kids to work hard make a living and do better than us so they can one day take care of us. To that end God has called parents to teach kids how to have productive lives as adults. Lives that honor Christ! And to help with that, I want us to look at Deuteronomy 6! 8
In Deuteronomy 6 Moses lays out before God s people what God expects from each generation as they inherit the Promised Land. So I want to read a portion of what Moses said and then point out 3 nonnegotiable principles for impacting the Next Generation. vii Deuteronomy 6:4-7 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 YOU shall love the LORD your God with ALL your heart and with ALL YOUR soul and with ALL your might. 6 And these words that I command YOU today shall be on YOUR heart. 9
7 YOU shall teach them diligently to YOUR children, 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. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 viii 3 things jump out to me here: 1. The need for CONVICTION. 2. The need for MODELING. 3. The need for REPETITION. ix Notice the call to personal conviction in vv5-6: 5 YOU shall love the LORD YOUR God with all YOUR heart and with all YOUR soul and with all YOUR might. 6 And these 10
words that I command YOU today shall be on YOUR heart. x Notice Moses doesn t just say: Teach your kids about God. No He says assess your own heart / walk with God first! Bottom line: Conviction matters. Moses point is that: If it s not personal to you it ll be hard to pass on to them. xi Right I mean it s hard to make it MEAN something to your kids if it doesn t MEAN anything to you! 11
Second, I d also say: Simply TELLING our kids to do something really doesn t help. However, MODELING what we are telling our kids to do does! Again verse 5 underscores: You need to love the Lord first! Before you teach them about God s love love God yourself. xii Trust me kids can sniff out a pretender all day / every day. In that way living it out trumps shouting it out every time! Abraham Lincoln said: 12
There is but one way to train up a child in the way he should go, and that is to travel it yourself. xiii Bottom line: What you do has more impact on your child then all the lectures you could ever give. And chances are if you don t love God and His Word the message to your kids to love God and His Word - will FALL on DEAF EARS. Finally, from Deuteronomy 6 we see the need for REPETITION. 13
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. Verse 7 says: Talk about truth at: Home In the car In the gym Before bedtime At lunch During dinner Truth needs to be repeated (and then repeated again). 14
So as we think about influencing / investing in the next generation we need to personally embrace these 3 values: CONVICTION MODELING REPETITION With that in mind I want to lay out: OUTLINES 4 Principles every Parent and Grandparent should impart into the next generation about WORKING HARD. xiv 15
First: 1) We want the next generation to know working hard is a mindset. xv Proverbs 10:5 says 5 He who gathers (works) in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest (sleeps when work should be done) is a son who brings shame. xvi Notice this verse isn t really about work ethic it s more about having the right mindset about work: knowing when to work (summer) why to work (prepare for the harvest) 16
the value of work (avoids personal shame) You see, the Proverbs writer stresses the importance of the why / when / where of working in this verse. This Proverb literally shows us: Working when you can and should is smart. While not working when you can and should is shameful. xvii Interestingly, the word prudent used in Proverbs 10:5 means acting with wisdom or showing care and thought for the future. 17
It literally means well judged sensible judicious. So there is a prudent mindset to embrace RE: working hard that informs the reason to work hard. So we shouldn t just say to our kids: WORK HARD we need to teach them to THINK RIGHTLY about work. We need to say: Here s why working hard is smart / good / wise, etc. It helps you take care of yourself. It helps you have purpose / meaning. It allows you to give / bless others. 18
Secondly - as parents / grandparents: 2) We want the next generation to work hard without being told. xviii And every parent says: AMEN! Culturally when the Proverbs were written they were written into a society in which if people did not work they did not eat. So HARD WORK was prized and valued. Therefore, in this passage the hardworking ant becomes the object lesson to consider. 19
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8 xix The writer says: Consider the ant the ant has: No leader No one telling her what to do No one telling her to get up early No one telling her to work hard No one telling her to think ahead No one telling her how to organize herself. And the reason is because the ant works hard without being told. 20
The ant is anything but lazy! Ants work faithfully and need no outside accountability to keep them working hard. Ants also have a thirst for industry! Now parents / grandparents this is a lofty goal but one we should strive to attain. Because one day when our kids grow up they will be more autonomous than they are now and if they always have to be told work hard they will always need to be told to work hard when they are on their own. xx 21
So we want our kids to internalize this wisdom and work hard without being harassed by us! Thirdly, every parent / grandparent: 3) We want the next generation to learn to work hard first then have fun later. xxi Proverbs 24:27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. xxii The Proverbs writers shows us the value of prioritizing! Prepare your work outside 22
Get everything ready in the field Then BUILD your house Learning how to ORDER your work is a key to working effectively. So part of working hard is taking responsibility and setting priorities. In that way we need our kids to learn the value of working hard first & having fun later. It applies to homework / chores / working outside the home / etc. I am not saying no to fun I am saying it is amazing how when fun is the priority 23
the entire day flies by while the work never gets done! Teach them to work first (learn the discipline) and then have fun later. And this will make mom very HAPPY! Fourthly, as parents / grandparents: 4) We want the next generation to realize working hard has benefits! xxiii Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. Proverbs 22:29 xxiv I love this Proverb! Notice the question: Do you see? 24
The writer is encouraging the younger generation to find a godly / successful hardworking individual to emulate / learn from. This Proverb shows us the benefits of doing our work well: Skillful work earns both recognition and advancement. Working hard will get you rewarded! Working hard will get you noticed! Working hard will open doors for you! Working hard will pay off! 25
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i It is the biblical duty of every generation of Christ followers to see to it that the next generation hears about the greatness of God & learns to love the Gospel of Jesus! ii We should teach them: 1) To love Christ completely / to love the Gospel. 2) To obey God s Word consistently. 3) To serve God and love people courageously. 4) To submit to the Holy Spirit continually. iii My goal is to help parents / grandparents & Christian adults get serious about pouring into the next generation iv Psalm 145:3 v The biblical pattern is for parents to introduce their children to a Godcentered, Bible-saturated vision for all of life. vi In our Work that Matters series I wanted to take a weekend to address the topic of Raising Kids to Work Hard. vii 3 non-negotiable principles for impacting the Next Generation. viii Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ix 1. The need for CONVICTION. 2. The need for MODELING. 3. The need for REPETITION. x Deuteronomy 6:5-6 xi Moses point is that: If it s not personal to you it ll be hard to pass on to them. xii verse 5 underscores: You need to love the Lord first! Before you teach them about God s love love God yourself. xiii There is but one way to train up a child in the way he should go, and that is to travel it yourself. xiv 4 Principles every Parent and Grandparent should impart into the next generation about WORKING HARD. xv 1) We want the next generation to know working hard is a mindset. xvi Proverbs 10:5 xvii Working when you can and should is smart. Not working when you can and should is shameful. xviii 2) We want the next generation to work hard without being told. xix Proverbs 6:6-8 xx Because one day when our kids grow up they will be more autonomous than they are now and if they always had to be told work hard they will always need to be told to work hard when they are on their own. 27
xxi 3) We want the next generation to learn to work hard first then have fun later. xxii Proverbs 24:7 xxiii 4) We want the next generation to realize working hard has benefits xxiv Proverbs 22:29 28