If you’ve been a parent for more than a day, you probably wear a few different hats. You definitely wear the hat of “provider” as you work hard to provide for the many (sometimes unending!) needs of your kids. When they’re hungry, you provide them with food. When they need something to wear, you provide them with clothes. When they’re tired, you provide them with a place to rest. Good parents provide their kids with what they need, not necessarily everything they want!
Beyond being a provider for their basic needs, you probably also wear hats like: Teacher, Banker, Counselor, Coach, Referee, Lawyer, Chef, Lifeguard, Entertainment Director, Uber Driver, Fashion Coordinator and later, Fashion Police. None of these roles pay very well and most of them will cost you more than you realize. All of them are important but have you ever thought about your most important role? Of all the parenting hats you wear, which one will have the greatest impact?
According to God’s Word, one of the most important hats you will ever wear as a parent is to be the primary spiritual influencer of your kids. One of the key passages that describes our role as parents is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.“
This passage, known as The Shema, comes from the Hebrew word for “hear” and is a high calling for parents to wear the hat of Spiritual Leader. While bringing kids to church is important, the role of parent extends way beyond this. Parents are to teach their kids correct theology about the oneness and exclusivity of God while also raising them (through modeling and teaching) to love God with all of who they are. The image used in this passage is that of a monument engraver who uses a chisel and hammer to etch something of great value into a slab of granite. This process takes time and can’t be limited to Sundays and Wednesdays. Parents should look for opportunities to leverage teachable moments at their home, on the road, in the mornings and before bedtime.
We all wear lots of different hats as parents. However, your role as primary spiritual leader is one of the most important hats you will ever wear. How are you intentionally investing in the spiritual life of your kids?
