As I mentioned in my last post, I started a series on Family Values. As promised (I bet you waited with baited breath), there are four words used in Deuteronomy 6: 4-15 that tell a lot about our values and how we are to pass them along. Before I do that though, I’d like to comment about verse 4 and what is called the SHEMA.
The SHEMA is basically the statement of faith in Judaism. It means the Lord is totally unique. He alone is God. The gods the Israelites were and would be exposed to in this journey of theirs would be enticing. They were also unpredictable and have no moral compass. The ancient worshiper of a false god could pick and choose depending on his/her mood or flavor.
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE TODAY OR WHAT?
We constantly fight the battle to fit or not to fit God into our mold. “Oh, He doesn’t fit. Well, that’s okay. We will make Him fit.” And so we move on, carrying with us a God who is unlike the One mentioned in the Bible, but One who definitely fits our need for the moment.
So, how are we to pass on our values to our children?
HEAR THE TRUTH CONTINUALLY. [4] Jehovah is unique. There is none like Him. Isaiah 40:18-19 has God asking, “To whom will you liken me? To whom will you compare me?” Good questions! Strong families lean hard on unshakeable truth. This is the first and foremost.
LOVE THE LORD FERVENTLY. [5-6] It is a harsh, but true reality: we cannot pass on to our children what we ourselves do not possess. It is impossible to pass on to our children the importance of loving God if we ourselves do not love Him. We are to be the example. And try to keep in mind that “more values are caught than taught.” I was a really poor “spiritual father” if you consider family devotions to be part of that. Epic fail. But I cannot even begin to count how many time I told my girls, “You must have your own faith. You cannot have mine or your mom’s.”
TEACH THE YOUNG DILIGENTLY. [7-9] The word “diligent” means “to teach with purpose.” We are to teach at all times. Learning is not gained by osmosis.
FEAR THE LORD GREATLY. [10-15] You probably know fear is “afraid of,” but “reverence for.” We are warned about forgetting where everything came from.
We may not be surrounded by gods of wood and stone as the ancient Israelites were. But we do have gods of materialsim, money, and me-ism to fight. Gods of sensuality and lust. Gods of fame, popularity and power. And a whole host of others. The words from Moses are wise words for us today.
Any thoughts you care to share?
I see the results of this in our family. We aren’t perfect parents, but our children love The Lord and the Church. Jan’s sister’s kids don’t quite have the fervor ours do.
Glad to hear about your family Larry.
The thing that sticks out to me is the continual nature. It’s a daily, disciplined process of reminding ourselves and communicating to our family.
yes it is. Like marriage it takes work and time.
Nothing to add but plenty to think about in how I share my faith with my daughter.
I am glad to hear that my post got you to thinking. 🙂
I almost think it would be better to have the “gods” of wood and stone because they would be easier to see.
True. But not real though. And totally lifeless and unfeeling.
I agree that teaching young people is a value and of value. I don’t have a need for a God. I don’t believe those things of loving and fearing a God are necessary to the recognition or practice of values based behavior. They are just religious practices. Justice, Liberty, and Love do not require a God to interpret.
I have to admit to agreeing with you that having a God is not a requirement to having those things. however, I do agree as to not needing a God. But then again, you would already know I would disagree. 🙂
Some people need a God and some don’t. You need to give a God to those that do. And that’s a good thing.
Talking about SHEMA reminded me of a book a friend of mine published recently – The Greatest Commandment. In it he discusses the passage “Listen Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is one.”
I agree that these days we’ve got way too many “gods”… and as many views on God. Guess that’s what you get when everyone gets an opportunity to think / write / read for himself / herself…
Will have to check out the book. That, lil sis, is a “flaw” with free will.
I don’t teach my daughter a lot about faith. I pray with her and tell her how I think about God, but I don’t give her any “definitive” lessons. Sometimes I feel like I do to little, but I was force-fed religion as a kid and I don;t think it did much good.
I think you can teach without cramming and force-feeding religion. Do it gently and with love.
My wife & I are raising 2 teen boys and the idea of passing on our faith is staring us in the face.
Knowing that we can’t MAKE our kids follow God or stay in His will or pray or have devotions is hard. Let me correct myself. I could make them have devotional time but then it becomes a “rule” and we all know that teenagers break rules just because they are there.
Juli & I do our best to be consistent. Teach a lesson when it presents itself. Let the boys “catch” us praying or reading the Bible. Asking them questions even though their answers are 2 words long.
Raising 2 teens makes me realize that I HAVE to trust that God is working in their life in ways I do not see – and I have to rest in that.
aaaah yes, the teenage years. Don’t you just love them? Sort of like a toothache. 😛 But I believe you and Juli have hit on it by being consistent before them.
I think I passed the test! That’s the easy part… the hard part is living out those answers in real life with the love of Him in our hearts. Powerful post, Bill. This subject is so big each one of those commandments could take a life time to grasp.
Always easy to say. Harder to do. Join my club Floyd. And yes, it is a long-time process.
If we as parents and “mature” Christians don’t pour Christ into the next generation the church will die. Kids our tomorrows leaders, if we don’t teach them how to follow Christ who will?
It’s so important to teach by example. Our actions show our true devotion.
Great post.
You hit the nail TC. We have to pour out ourselves into our youth. The best way to do that is with actions.
I don’t think that Jesus meant for it to be difficult. He gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us what He wants us to know and do. Perhaps the trouble lies in the multitude of distractions that can consume our time. Jesus said that his sheep know his voice. I find that as soon as I hear from my Shepherd, some distraction or other begs my attention.
Distractions? Me? Wait a second be right back. Ok, here I am. 🙂 Yeah, you are right Susan.
I learned very early on in my children’s lives that they would learn to love the Jesus that they saw in me. Their attitudes for Christ would be founded in the attitude that they saw me exhibit. It is difficult but we must realize the example that we are leaving for others in our lives each and every day.
You state it well Sele: “Learn to love the Jesus they see in me.” Quite a task but so necessary for us to be aware of.
Good stuff, Bill. We’ve been trying to be more intentional and regular with family devotions. We use some different resources. None of them are perfect, but we can talk about them and the conversation is the most important thing. I’m certainly not perfect either, but I want them to see Jesus in me. Thanks for the great reminder.
The conversation is so important. I relied on that to sort of take the place of the daily time around the table (of which I was most often gone from).
Thank you for breaking this down for us, Pastor Bill. I am thinking that even if we don’t do as great a job with our kids as we wished we would have, that God still gives us opportunities all throughout their lifetimes. 🙂 God bless you as you love Him and your family today!