Billy Graham - Leaving a Legacy: The Journey Study Series

In this ebook edition, please use your devices note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your devices highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

T O GET THE MOST FROM THIS STUDY GUIDE, READ pages 267276 of The Journey.

Parenting is the most important responsibility most of us will ever face, and none of us does it perfectly.

BILLY GRAHAM
The Journey

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.

ANTHONY BRANDT

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

PSALM 127:3

The family, as we have traditionally defined it, is under attack. Many well-meaning adults are so focused on their jobs and other interests that their families get virtually no attention. Children are left to raise themselves. Parents expect the school system to discipline their children while they attend to their own personal needs and desires.

Other parents take seriously their parental responsibilities. They juggle complex schedules and demands, all in an attempt to live up to Gods expectations. They know that their familys future is dependent upon their parental effectiveness. They know parenting is hard, but they know they have no other choice.

Briefly describe the hopes and dreams you have for the future generations of your family (your children or other younger relatives, if you have no children).

[Your Response Here]

How much time do you spend each day in direct interaction with other family members?

____ Less than 10 minutes

____ 10 to 30 minutes

____ 30 minutes to 1 hour

____ More than 1 hour

What are the three daily responsibilities that take up the largest portion of your available time?

1. [Your Response Here]

2. [Your Response Here]

3. [Your Response Here]

Children are a gift from God; they are not our personal property. Eventually, our children marry and have children of their own. Children become parents who raise children. Therefore, how you interact with your children today will affect them and future generations. Theres a lot riding on your parenting skills.

Read Genesis 33:5. To whom do our children really belong?

____ Parents

____ God

Like everything else in life, children are Gods property, entrusted to us to raise and train. They are resources that are to be invested for Gods purposes. Its not our job to raise doctors, dentists, schoolteachers, homemakers, mechanics, entertainers, and so forth. It is our job to raise children who give their lives to God and commit their lives in service to Him. Then God will guide them into the professions for which He has created them.

What is a family? From the biblical viewpoint, it is people who are connected by marriage, genetics, or adoption. In addition, it is the bedrock of human society. In Jacobs family there were three different levels of relationships. The largest was the tribe, then the clan, and finally the family. The family unit was the basic structure in Israel, but the families looked a bit different than they do today.

Many times, multiple generations lived on the same land under the leadership of the elder family head (sometimes called a patriarch). In communities, the patriarchs might have been the elders who were in charge of regulating inter-family disputes. The Bible does, however, make repeated references to the parent-child relationship that we consider the nuclear family.

In the Old Testament, the basis of the family unit was the married couple (Genesis 2:45:2). The union of the husband and wife tied together grandparents and grandchildren. The father was responsible for the religious and moral training of the family members (Deuteronomy 6:7, 2025). In Israelite culture, the wife was not the property of the husband. This was different from the practices of other cultures in the region. The wives gave birth, but the leadership in the home was the role of the husband. Children were taught to respect their parents and to listen to instruction.

In the New Testament, the family was the basic unit through which the early church was established. Individuals who were selected to lead the church first had to prove themselves as leaders of their homes. Ephesians 56 and Colossians 34 contain Pauls words regarding the family. In the Bible, wives are described as the household administrators; therefore, family decisions should be made with the wifes input.

As you can see, the family was the core of biblical societies. The same should be true today! Read 2 Timothy 3:23. When the family is destroyed, society disintegrates.

Think back on your childhood. Place an X on the line, indicating the spiritual strength of your family.

Very Weak ---------------------------------------------- Very Strong

What about your present family? Place a Y on the line, indicating the spiritual strength of your immediate family.

What is your goal? Place a Z on the line, representing the spiritual strength you would like to see in your family.

Explain the differences between X and Y. Is your present family spiritually stronger or weaker than the family in which you were raised? Why?

[Your Response Here]

What are you doing to achieve your spiritual goals for your immediate family? Are you making satisfactory progress? Why or why not?

[Your Response Here]

It is easy to get so focused on our personal needs and wants that we inadvertently ignore other family membersespecially our children. It happens to almost every parent.