Tony Evans - Raising Kingdom Kids: Giving Your Child a Living Faith

Parenting today is not easy. Teaching children to follow Christ in todays culture is even more difficult. Raising Kingdom Kids provides parents with sound biblical principles to help their children listen to God as they grow and mature. This is a tremendous resource for any parent who is committed to bringing up godly children.

T ONY D UNGY

Super Bowl-winning coach and New York Times best-selling author

Dr. Evans has been a great friend to me, and a role model to many as a man of God, a husband, and a father. The Bible has a lot to say to parents, and Tony is a fantastic guide. This book will help you stay focused on the high goal of parenting: raising the next generation who will continue seeking to change the world for Christ.

C AREY C ASEY

CEO, National Center for Fathering

This book is full of wisdom and practical guidance! What I love even more is how Dr. Evans encourages us as parents to discover and honor individual gifts and talents in each child as we are teaching them to use those strengths to bring honor and glory to their Creator and Designer.

C YNTHIA T OBIAS

Author of The Way They Learn

If you want to raise kids who will have an eternal impact, then Raising Kingdom Kids is for you. As Dr. Tony Evans so powerfully reminds us, kingdom parenting isnt perfect parenting, it is purposeful parenting. I highly recommend this book to all parents who want to intentionally instill in their children virtues such as wisdom, integrity, service, and love.

M ARK M ERRILL

President, Family First, and author of All Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids

Raising Kingdom Kids

Copyright 2014 Tony Evans

ISBN: 978-1-58997-784-6

A Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188

Focus on the Family and the accompanying logo and design are federally registered trademarks of Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.

TYNDALE and Tyndales quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide (www.zondervan.com).

All italics in the Bible texts were added by the author for emphasis.

The use of material from or references to various websites does not imply endorsement of those sites in their entirety. Availability of websites and pages is subject to change without notice.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of Focus on the Family.

Cover design by Jennifer Ghionzoli

Cover skyline photo copyright PhotoDisc. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph taken by Stephen Vosloo. Copyright by Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this book can be found at www.loc.gov.

Build: 2021-04-21 22:34:25 EPUB 3.0

Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants,

And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace.

P SALM 144:12

To my four wonderful children: Chrystal, Priscilla, Anthony Jr., and Jonathan. I am deeply grateful to God for the honor and privilege of raising you and calling you my own. Your mother and I love you.

D AD

Are you a mom or a dad? If so, youve probably noticedparenting isnt as simple as it used to be.

Once upon a time, having and raising kids was an experience that most people sort of fell into as a matter of course. It was part of the natural order. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage. Thats what our grandparents used to say.

In those days, husbands and wives didnt always devote a lot of conscious thought to the challenge of becoming effective parents. They just did what came naturally. That may have been good enough in the past, but it isnt going to wash in todays high-tech, fast-paced, morally mixed-up society. Nowadays, mothers and fathers need a strategy, a planespecially if theyre the kind of parents interested in raising children who can be described as true kids of the kingdom.

If you fall into that category, this book is for you.

Kingdom parenting, says Tony Evans, involves intentionally overseeing the generational transfer of the faith in such a way that children learn to consistently live all of life under Gods divine authority. Thats something we care about deeply here at Focus on the Family. In fact, Tonys ideas on this topic dovetail perfectly with the objectives of our GEN3 initiative, a campaign designed to encourage folks to build marriages and families worth repeating over three generations. Its a goal we can all get enthused about.

How can parents create a home environment that fosters and facilitates that process? Dr. Evans offers a detailed response in the pages that follow. Not surprisingly, his parenting strategies go hand in hand with the time-honored, biblically based principles weve been promoting at Focus for more than thirty yearsprinciples weve summarized and delineated as the Twelve Traits of a Healthy Family.

The first of these traits is a strong marriage. Matrimony deserves special attention in its own right, of course, but a solid marriage also has a direct impact on the development of healthy kids.

Next, thriving families are committed to one another. They take steps to develop a deeply rooted sense of we-ness among themselves. They emphasize loyalty, unity, and interdependency, and they develop traditions and rituals that become the basis of lasting bonds.

These households are also built upon a shared spiritual foundation that includes church attendance, family devotions, and moral discipline. After all, parents cant pass on a faith they dont possess.

Good communicationthe open and frequent sharing of feelingsis another important characteristic of kingdom families. So is a strong sense of connectedness. Kids experience a high degree of warmth and closeness at home when their relationships with Mom and Dad are distinguished by play, fun, humor, shared meals, and a high level of parental involvement. Connected and communicating family members learn to honor one another with practical demonstrations of unconditional love, which in turn equip them with a