Parenting: Love God, Love People, Leave Home

Locker Room - A Southland Christian Church Podcast

If you are a parent and have kids in your home, you are passing on something to them. Whether you’ve been intentional or not, well-meaning or not, you are building a legacy. The question is, will that legacy you are giving them be good, healthy and eternal? Or is it something else?

John Sampson joins Scott on the podcast this week to talk about leaving a legacy for our kids of loving God and others, and preparing them for life as an independent adult.

DISCUSSION GUIDE

We started off with some fun in the podcast, which of the Chuck Norris lines did you like the most?

The role of parents is, “teaching and training our kids to love God, love people, and leave home.” After hearing that, does it change your view on what it means to be a parent?

A couple of acknowledgments have been made. 1. Parenting is the hardest job on the planet. 2. There are no perfect parents, no perfect children, and no perfect families. Does that reminder release any stress you have about either being a parent or potentially being a parent one day?

Part 1: Teach and train our kids to love God. Read Ephesians 6:1-4. What sticks out to you about that piece of scripture? What should be implemented into your role as a dad to help your kids grow in their love for God?

Part 2: Teach and train our kids to love people. Read Mark 12:30-31. With that verse and many others mentioned about how important it is to love others, what sticks out to you about that piece of scripture?

Scott and John talked about how important it is that parents know their kids' friends’. Also, about how important it is to know where those friends are in their “circles” of friendship. What are the best practices you’ve seen in this happening? What are the bad practices of this?

Part 3: Teach and train our kids to leave home. Scott talks through two critical actions: 1. Reinforce through training. 2. Cut ropes to prepare them for independence.

What are the hardest parts of helping your children become prepared to leave home?

What else from the podcast spoke to you?

What did God/Holy Spirit speak/prompt/say to you? What’s God asking you to do? What does He want to give you? What does He want you to lay down?

NEXT STEPS

• If you’re wrestling with Christianity, would like to become a Christ-follower, or need help figuring out your next step, email us at [e-mail].

• Join a Group at southland.church/groups

• For any other questions or comments email [e-mail]