🎧 Listen: Parenting for Life, Session 1
Richard Harasick · Grace Community Church · 9/20/2009Open Session 1 on gracechurch.org · Download MP3
Lesson 1

The Parent’s Priorities

What comes first in my parenting?

Source status: These lesson pages are original study-based adaptations of the Parenting for Life themes. They are not transcripts or official course notes. The Lesson 4 audio has not yet been transcribed. Scripture is quoted from the NASB 1995; read every passage in context.

Lesson opening

Every family runs on priorities, whether we name them or not. This lesson asks what sits at the centre of our home. Scripture calls parents to love God first and to let His Word shape ordinary days, so that our children see a faith that is lived and not only spoken.

Scripture reading

Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 6:33; Psalm 127:3; Ephesians 6:4

“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.”Deuteronomy 6:6–7 (NASB 1995)
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”Matthew 6:33 (NASB 1995)

Teaching

The first question is about worship

Every parent has hopes for their children: safety, education, good manners and opportunities. These are good gifts, but they cannot become our highest purpose. Christian parenting begins by recognising that God is Lord over the whole family, not merely over a Sunday activity.

A parent teaches through everyday life

Deuteronomy 6 places the teaching of God’s words in the ordinary rhythm of life: at home, on the road, when resting and when rising. Instruction is not confined to a formal lesson. Children watch how adults handle inconvenience, speak about others, respond to mistakes and seek forgiveness.

Priorities are visible in decisions

A family’s priorities are revealed by time, attention and repeated choices. Work, sport, academic success and comfort can quietly crowd out worship, prayer, relationships and service. The answer is not to abandon ordinary responsibilities but to order them under love for God.

Grace for imperfect parents

Our example will be inconsistent. When we sin, we should acknowledge it rather than defend ourselves. An honest apology and a changed response can model repentance more clearly than pretending we never fail.

A father reading an open Bible to his smiling children and wife at a sunlit breakfast table

My reflection

Deuteronomy 6 does not begin with my children. It begins with me: these words “shall be on your heart.” I cannot pass on a love for God that I am not cultivating myself. That is a sobering place to start.

I’m tempted to measure a good week by how much got done: work delivered, lifts given, homework finished. Those things matter, but when I look honestly at my calendar it does not always say “seek first His kingdom.” Busyness can quietly become the real lord of the house.

I also notice that my children learn more from how I react when plans fall apart than from anything I plan to teach. They are watching whether Christ actually governs my time and my temper.

So my resolution is simple and modest: to bring God’s Word into the ordinary moments we already share, and to be quick to confess when my priorities are out of order. Psalm 127 reminds me that children are a gift of the LORD. I want to receive that gift with gratitude, not treat it as one more task to manage.

Discuss and reflect

  • Which achievements am I tempted to value above faithfulness?
  • What does my child see when plans are interrupted?
  • Where could Scripture become part of an ordinary daily routine?

This week’s practice

Choose one daily moment (a meal, journey or bedtime) for a brief Scripture conversation. Ask for forgiveness where needed, and record what you learned.

Closing prayer

Lord, You are the one God, worthy of all my heart, soul and strength. Put Your words on my heart before I try to teach them. Help me to seek Your kingdom first in the ordinary choices of each day, so that my children see that You come first in our home. Thank You for the gift of my children. Amen.

Download with this lesson

Parenting for Life: Lessons 1–4 study companion (PDF)
Printable infographic pack, 6 sheets (PDF). Use the Parent Reflection Worksheet with this lesson.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org