The second habit that Covey describes in his book is to “begin with the end in mind”, or starting with setting your most important principles.
Matthew 22:36-4036 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Love God
- Love others
If we live this way, we will fulfil God’s commandments, so we will become the people God wants us to be.
When we were raising our children, we received some great advice: think about what we wanted our kids to be when they left the nest – what kind of adults do we want them to be when they leave and no longer live in our home?
We decided to focus on just a few things – we wanted them to:
- love God
- respect authority – teachers, adults, etc
- be open and teachable
- have serving hearts
We focused all of our parenting on developing these character traits in their hearts. we did this through age appropriate teaching and sharing with them during family devos, teaching opportunities, discipline, Bible study, etc.
For example: when little, if they didn’t obey us when we told them not to take a cookie, we’d discipline them, but focus on how disobeying wasn’t loving toward God, or that the issue was disrespecting us as parents, not punishing them for not following the rule itself. It’s not about the rule, but about their heart and character.
Ask: what are some godly characteristics you want your children to have when they are teens/adults?
Practical:
Write down the character that you want your children to have and find Bible verses that teach about it. Choose one character issue for each child to focus on in teaching them.