How to Breed a Fool, Part I

The Importance of Teaching Your Children to Be Humble

Three Crucial Points•Your children ARE NOT the center

of the universe. •Your world does NOT revolve

around your children (it should revolve around Christ)

•God is God. I’m not. You’re not. Your child is not.

Egotists We Have Known• Eve (Genesis 3:5-6)• Cain (Genesis 4:4-6)• Samson (Judges 15:15-16)• Saul (I Sam. 15:24-25, 30; 18:7-9; 27-30) • Absalom (II Sam. 14:25-26; 15:1-17; 18:9)• Diotrephes (II John 9)

Drive out the folly!• Proverbs 13:24: “He who spares the rod hates

his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Prov. 19:18a: “Discipline your son while there is hope; do not set your heart on his destruction.” Prov. 22:15: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it from him.” Prov. 23:13, 14: “Do not withhold discipline from your child; if you strike him with the rod he will not die. If you strike him with the rod you will save his soul from Sheol.” Prov. 29:15,17: “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother… Discipline your son and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.”

Questions•Who’s in charge at your house?

Are you afraid to say “No”? Why?

•Do your children demonstrate respect and love for God and others?

•Are your children seeking an identity apart from yours? Why?

The First and Hardest Lesson

“Each child must experience his or her own ‘Copernican

revolution.’” Jean Piaget

Each child must learn that they are not the center of the world.Instead, teach them the way of

the Lord Matthew 20:25-28

What Can We Do?• Drive out the folly! Proverbs still matters.• Model Humility

– Isaiah 66:1-2; Matthew 11:28-30 (Romans 8:29)

• Govern your child’s pride – ask: what is its source and nature?– A child who grows into a proud man or

woman is forever lost to the Lord. – Psalm 10:4