Leader Resources
EXERCISES
- Review the memory verse of the week and talk about how it relates to the Truth section.
SUGGESTED DISCUSSION
- Truth – You can discuss any of the in Bible questions you would like to address, but give more time to the Equipping section. Here are some tips that may help:
- Exodus 20:1-6 – In this passage, God promises to extend His blessing to the children of the obedient and His curse upon the children of the disobedient. How should this be understood in light of Scripture’s teaching that each person bears responsibility to God for their actions? Is God being unjust? No. God does not unfairly condemn people for their parent’s sin, nor save people because of their parent’s righteousness. However, God’s blessings upon obedient people are experienced by the children within their household. These children grow up, often pursuing the obedience of their parents and experiencing the same blessing on their own households. Likewise, God’s cursing upon the disobedient is experienced by their entire household. Children of these homes often grow up walking in the path of their fathers (to use a biblical phrase) and experience the same troubles and consequences for sin in their own households. This cycle tends to continue unless God shows special mercy to break this generational pattern. God specifies His jealousy as the reason for this curse. God is not petty. He is not easily angered. He is not motivated by vanity or insecurity. His jealousy is a righteous demand that His people give Him exclusive love and obedience. He will not tolerate competing loves in His people. He requires that their worship be exclusively offered to Him. Verses 5-6 show that our hearts’ faithfulness to God, or lack of it, can impact our families for generations. If parents want to bring trouble to their children, then all they need to do is live hypocritical lives of moral compromise or spiritual adultery, serving their own pleasures and passions. But if parents want their children to experience blessing, then they will live obediently and walk faithfully with Christ.
- Galatians 5:16-25 – As God’s people live Spirit-filled lives, they will bear the fruit of the divine life – love, joy, peace and so on. Parents who bear increasing fruit of the Spirit are becoming better and better equipped to parent their children as God intends. You may want to discuss again the “how-to” of being filled with the Spirit.
- Truth – You will want to focus your discussion on these points:
- Parents are to help heal their childrens’ hurts and assist them in growing in wholeness.
- Parents must be available to their children (in terms of time and empathy) to meet their emotional needs.
- By loving God, parents become a conduit of God’s love to their children. They are also givers of parental tenderness through look, touch and word.
- The fruit of the Spirit equips parents to do their parenting well. Parents should seek the daily filling of the Spirit as a way to become equipped for their parenting responsibilities.
- Equipping – Give your JG plenty of time to discuss any of these questions. Some may have painful stories they want to share. Be sure to direct your JG to the great Healer and Forgiver who can redeem and restore any brokenness. Be sure to underscore the practicality of the Spirit-filled life. This is not a promise of instant perfection, but it is a promise of reliable spiritual and moral progress that will equip your JG to face the challenges of parenting.
- Accountability – Allow time for smaller groups of 2 or 3 to ask accountability questions and pray for one another.
- Mission – Invite a few people to share their spiritual evaluation of someone they have been praying for.
