Author: Andy Brown, Lay Pastor @ MaconFBC | April 25, 2024
Parenting Young Children
Increase: Part Two
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
-Luke 2:52
Welcome to Part Two of Increase, a short parenting series with a focus on families with younger kids. Laying out a framework of child-rearing based on Luke 2:52, we are considering the three ways that the Bible describes the formative years of Jesus: he increased in wisdom, he increased in stature, and he increased in favor with God and man. Given our goal to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), we ought to desire the same for our children, and what better way to do that than to help them to grow in the ways that Jesus did as a child?
In part one (www.hopeformacon.com/parenting.html), we examined the issue of wisdom as the first of the three increases. In part two, let's reflect on increasing in stature.
Simple, But Not Easy
Let's not overcomplicate the issue: increasing in stature means that Jesus grew in a physical sense. It's very easy to take for granted that kids get bigger because that's just what they do. But there are ways that we as parents can and should facilitate the healthy growth of our children as they mature physically.
This is not a small issue. I think most Christian parents sense the responsibility and weight of guiding our children spiritually, but we do ourselves and our children a great disservice if we adopt a diminishing perspective of the importance of providing for them physically. Our bodies are gifts from God, broken and ruined from the fall though they may be, and it is good and right to honor our bodies as the gifts that they are. This means that we ought to make good provision and healthy choices for ourselves and our children. The trouble is that all too often we either take these responsibilities for granted, or we don't notice them at all.
Don't Play in the Street
As is the case with a large percentage of Christian living, the real value is in the mundane. There are certainly some high-profile scenarios for which we provide our children instruction (like don't talk to strangers, for example), but how often do we apply the same level of intentionality and guidance for the commonplace routines of day-to-day life?
Most of us enforce certain rules within our homes that govern our kids' physiological choices, and you know what they are. These are the basics like brush your teeth, no dessert until after dinner, bed time is X o'clock, etc. But I'd wager that most of us do not explain the 'why' behind the rules we enforce. It's entirely possible that we haven't even thought about it ourselves, it's just stuff we know we're supposed to do as parents. But consider for a moment how great would it be if we explained to our children that the reason we brush our teeth is because God gave us our teeth, and we honor him by taking care of them and keeping them clean! This is a truly transformative idea for everyone, but especially for small kids. Think about the truth that is presented in that explanation: God gives us good gifts (like our teeth), these gifts come with responsibilities, we can relate to God meaningfully by what we choose to do with the gifts we're given, and God is glorified when we do what is right. All this from brushing our teeth!
Not every daily routine needs to be turned into a spiritual lesson. But there are spiritual implications that attach to the physical choices we make, so it's important we make the right ones.
Increase On (and With) Purpose
I would encourage you to take some time and consider how you as a parent can actively and intentionally contribute toward your kids' physical growth. We can start by making good nutritional choices at the family level – more fruits and vegetables, reduction of sugar intake, an emphasis on eating protein, relying less on processed and pre-packaged foods, swapping out soda and Kool-Aid with water and milk, and so on. Make these choices as a family, and eat healthily together. It is good to invest in good nutrition, and we all know the benefits that eating right can provide, especially for children. Be willing to re-orient your energy and resources for this purpose because healthy eating is a worthy effort.
We can also encourage our kids to grow through exercise. Most kids exercise through play, although we don’t often see that it's happening. Being outside, running and jumping, throwing and catching, these activities provide benefits to children like coordination, spatial awareness, and muscle development along with the social benefits we typically think of such as cooperation, teamwork, and camaraderie. Screen time can be fun and convenient, but there is no substitute for interacting with the real world, and our bodies are designed by God to require that real world interaction. Kids can also do basic body weight exercises and will benefit immensely from doing so. There are some nights – this is real, I promise – when you can peer in our front windows and see our entire family doing planks on the living room floor. For people that don't do this, it sounds awkward and weird, but if you were to see us doing it, you'd see us smiling and laughing and having fun while simultaneously getting stronger and spending precious bonding time together. Push-ups, squats, and leg lifts are all very simple exercises that children (and their parents) can do and will benefit from, so make it a priority to get stronger together.
There are additional ways that we can facilitate our children's increase in stature, but we don't have to become an expert on everything all at once. Just bear in mind that the choices we make for and on behalf of our kids in their childhoods will shape them into the kind of grown-ups they become. Strong and healthy kids will grow into strong and healthy adults, and I am firmly convinced that God is honored by our healthy choices. So let's commit to making them, for our kids' sakes and for ours as well.
This is part two of the Parenting Young Children Series. Stay tuned for part three.
Increase: Part Two
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
-Luke 2:52
Welcome to Part Two of Increase, a short parenting series with a focus on families with younger kids. Laying out a framework of child-rearing based on Luke 2:52, we are considering the three ways that the Bible describes the formative years of Jesus: he increased in wisdom, he increased in stature, and he increased in favor with God and man. Given our goal to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), we ought to desire the same for our children, and what better way to do that than to help them to grow in the ways that Jesus did as a child?
In part one (www.hopeformacon.com/parenting.html), we examined the issue of wisdom as the first of the three increases. In part two, let's reflect on increasing in stature.
Simple, But Not Easy
Let's not overcomplicate the issue: increasing in stature means that Jesus grew in a physical sense. It's very easy to take for granted that kids get bigger because that's just what they do. But there are ways that we as parents can and should facilitate the healthy growth of our children as they mature physically.
This is not a small issue. I think most Christian parents sense the responsibility and weight of guiding our children spiritually, but we do ourselves and our children a great disservice if we adopt a diminishing perspective of the importance of providing for them physically. Our bodies are gifts from God, broken and ruined from the fall though they may be, and it is good and right to honor our bodies as the gifts that they are. This means that we ought to make good provision and healthy choices for ourselves and our children. The trouble is that all too often we either take these responsibilities for granted, or we don't notice them at all.
Don't Play in the Street
As is the case with a large percentage of Christian living, the real value is in the mundane. There are certainly some high-profile scenarios for which we provide our children instruction (like don't talk to strangers, for example), but how often do we apply the same level of intentionality and guidance for the commonplace routines of day-to-day life?
Most of us enforce certain rules within our homes that govern our kids' physiological choices, and you know what they are. These are the basics like brush your teeth, no dessert until after dinner, bed time is X o'clock, etc. But I'd wager that most of us do not explain the 'why' behind the rules we enforce. It's entirely possible that we haven't even thought about it ourselves, it's just stuff we know we're supposed to do as parents. But consider for a moment how great would it be if we explained to our children that the reason we brush our teeth is because God gave us our teeth, and we honor him by taking care of them and keeping them clean! This is a truly transformative idea for everyone, but especially for small kids. Think about the truth that is presented in that explanation: God gives us good gifts (like our teeth), these gifts come with responsibilities, we can relate to God meaningfully by what we choose to do with the gifts we're given, and God is glorified when we do what is right. All this from brushing our teeth!
Not every daily routine needs to be turned into a spiritual lesson. But there are spiritual implications that attach to the physical choices we make, so it's important we make the right ones.
Increase On (and With) Purpose
I would encourage you to take some time and consider how you as a parent can actively and intentionally contribute toward your kids' physical growth. We can start by making good nutritional choices at the family level – more fruits and vegetables, reduction of sugar intake, an emphasis on eating protein, relying less on processed and pre-packaged foods, swapping out soda and Kool-Aid with water and milk, and so on. Make these choices as a family, and eat healthily together. It is good to invest in good nutrition, and we all know the benefits that eating right can provide, especially for children. Be willing to re-orient your energy and resources for this purpose because healthy eating is a worthy effort.
We can also encourage our kids to grow through exercise. Most kids exercise through play, although we don’t often see that it's happening. Being outside, running and jumping, throwing and catching, these activities provide benefits to children like coordination, spatial awareness, and muscle development along with the social benefits we typically think of such as cooperation, teamwork, and camaraderie. Screen time can be fun and convenient, but there is no substitute for interacting with the real world, and our bodies are designed by God to require that real world interaction. Kids can also do basic body weight exercises and will benefit immensely from doing so. There are some nights – this is real, I promise – when you can peer in our front windows and see our entire family doing planks on the living room floor. For people that don't do this, it sounds awkward and weird, but if you were to see us doing it, you'd see us smiling and laughing and having fun while simultaneously getting stronger and spending precious bonding time together. Push-ups, squats, and leg lifts are all very simple exercises that children (and their parents) can do and will benefit from, so make it a priority to get stronger together.
There are additional ways that we can facilitate our children's increase in stature, but we don't have to become an expert on everything all at once. Just bear in mind that the choices we make for and on behalf of our kids in their childhoods will shape them into the kind of grown-ups they become. Strong and healthy kids will grow into strong and healthy adults, and I am firmly convinced that God is honored by our healthy choices. So let's commit to making them, for our kids' sakes and for ours as well.
This is part two of the Parenting Young Children Series. Stay tuned for part three.