Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home Through Time, Moments, and Milestones by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin should be required reading for all parents. I have already purchased several extra copies of this book to give friends as baby gifts or for milestone celebrations. Someone wise once said that “your family won’t just drift into godliness, you have to intentionally pursue family discipleship with intentionality and purpose.” Every day that someone reminds me that “your kids are just growing up so fast”, I’m reminded that the days that they will be in our home are limited. What foundations are we setting now that will cause them to know that their identity is in Christ and that they were created on purpose and with a purpose for their lives? This is what my husband and I are so blessed to navigate and what we will be held accountable for as parents. Family discipleship done correctly should feel natural and be a joy. It doesn’t have to be a drag. There isn’t a checklist of things you have to do….love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and bring your kids along for that glorious pursuit!
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…
- “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 p. 12
- “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” Psalm 102:18 p. 15
- “The single greatest reason why we are losing our young people today is that the home is no longer the place where faith is transferred. Parents, the primary purpose of the home is the evangelization and discipleship of your children. You cannot outsource this vital component in the rearing of your children.” – Tony Evans, p. 28
- To disciple your family as Jesus discipled his twelve, think less of your children as students in your home-university and more as apprentices invited to study and exercise the way of God they see in and hear about from you. When your kids ask questions, think of ways that you might give them an invitation for an answer just like Christ did: “Come and you will see” (John 1:39). p. 30
- The greatest way to lead and serve your family is to utilize time, moments, and milestones to teach your family about the good news of salvation in Christ and what it looks like to obey all that he commands. p. 40
- Modeling. Serving as a godly example for your family, living out your genuine walk with God, and demonstrating true repentance where and when you fall short.
- Family Discipleship Time. Creating intentional time built into the rhythm of the family’s life for the purpose of thinking about, talking about, and living out the gospel.
- Family Discipleship Moments. Capturing and leveraging opportunities in the course of everyday life for the purpose of gospel-centered conversation.
- Family Discipleship Milestones. Marking and making occasions to celebrate and commemorate significant spiritual milestones of God’s work in the life of the family and child. p. 43
- “Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion that the Sunday school is intended to ease them of their personal duties. The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” – Charles Spurgeon p. 46
- Being relatable means sharing your honest, insufficient life and loving them enough to delight in theirs too. p. 70
- Who are you modeling your parenting after? p. 72
- You family’s legacy of faithfulness can start with you. p. 72
- The word of God shows us who God is, it shows us who we are, and it shows us how we are to line our lives up with how God designed the universe to work. p. 89
- Who is getting your utmost? Where do you expend your best efforts? p. 96
- Find ways to display your heart and God’s will for your child by injecting some creativity and formality into significant moments in your child’s life. p. 139
- If you could relive one day of your life over and over again, which would you choose? p. 150
- Foster a culture of development and dedication in your household. Ask yourself, “What do I want my kids to be able to do on their own?” and take steps to train them to do it. p. 157