HELPING YOUR KID GROW UP TO BE PRESIDENT

HELPING YOUR KID GROW UP TO BE PRESIDENT

Proverbs 4:7

Three things we can give our kids to help them be successful.

1. ME

How do I struggle with this?

I am the original “helicopter” parent and grandparent. 

2. WE

How do we all struggle with this?

We all want our kids to succeed in school and life. We want to give them every advantage possible. 

The problem is that we give them good things, but maybe not the best things. 

BIG IDEA

There are three things we can give our children that will help them be successful in school and life. They might even become President!

What are these three things?

Knowledge

Wisdom

Understanding

3. GOD

What does the Bible say about this?

Proverbs 2:6 (NKJV) For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is information. It can either be good or bad. In fact, 

Knowledge by itself can be dangerous.

Genesis 2:9 (NKJV) And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:6-7 (NKJV) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Limitations on Knowledge

Romans 16:19 (NASB) For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

Knowledge can make us arrogant.

I Corinthians 8:1-2 (NKJV) Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

We need knowledge of God!

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

Colossians 1:9-10 (NKJV) For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

WISDOM

Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV) Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

What is wisdom?

Wisdom is seeing life from God’s point of view. 

Job 28:27 (NKJV) Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. 

Wisdom is the voice of God speaking His will to us. 

Proverbs 3:19–20 (NKJV) The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew.

Where does wisdom come from?

Job 28:12 (NKJV) “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:20 (NKJV) “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:28 (NKJV) And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.

Psalm 111:10 (NKJV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Proverbs 1:20 (NKJV) Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. 

Proverbs‬ ‭2:6‬ (‭NKJV)‬‬ For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs‬ ‭9:10‬ (‭NKJV)‬‬ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Colossians‬ ‭2:3‬ ‭(NKJV)‬‬ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭(NKJV)‬‬ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

James‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭(NKJV)‬‬ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

UNDERSTANDING

Understanding is the application of God’s holiness  

Job 28:27–28 (NKJV) Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. 28 And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Psalm 111:10 (NKJV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

4. YOU

So how can you apply this to your life and family?

1. Talk to your kids from the Bible about issues they face.

Deuteronomy 4:5–6 (NKJV) “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

2. Teach them the difference between reason and wisdom. 

Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV) There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

One man said that “youth and adults are able to reason logically to the wrong conclusions.”

3. Make them read!

Daniel 1:17 (NKJV) As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

5. WE

How can we all live this out together?

1. Don’t expect the schools to give your kids wisdom and understanding. 

Schools can teach knowledge in all its forms:  

• Knowledge
• Comprehension
• Application
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation

Schools can cover all the domains and be effective in all educational standards, but schools cannot teach Biblical wisdom and understanding. The best it can teach is human wisdom and situational ethics. 

2. Train your children to examine everything through the lens of God’s Word. 

3. You can do this!

Citation

Excerpt(s) from COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE: SEVEN KEYS TO IRRESISTIBLE COMMUNICATION by Andy Stanley and Ronald Lane Jones, copyright © 2006 by Andy Stanley and Ronald Lane Jones. Used by permission of WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.