These are articles you MUST take the time to read, especially if you are a parent or a teenager.

A Word to Young Ladies from a Dad

A Little Advice to Young Men

Now a Word for the Ladies

Too often and too soon, too many parents are giving up their parental authority in an effort to help their sons or daughters learn to accept responsibility.

This means that too many youth are unaccountable for their time, their relationships, their finances, their respect for authority, or even their spiritual growth.

In the end, does this create more problems than solutions?

Is this the best approach?

Is it a biblical approach?

What do you think?

During the summer I am at home a lot more. Because of that, I get to spend more time with my family. The other day I was reading nursery rhymes with my daughter. This one, in particular, caught my attention.

Little Ships

Little ships
Must keep the shore;
Larger ships
May venture more.

There’s not much to this nursery rhyme really. However, the thing that caught my attention is how closely this imitates life, both spiritually and physically.

My daughter is a young child. There isn’t much she does where my wife and I aren’t around. She has strict limits on everything from television time to where she goes outside. That is the way it should be! As she starts to mature and show responsibility our boundaries and limits for her will expand.

She will be allowed to venture out a little further from the shore.

Spiritually, it is much the same way. As one is nurturing a younger believer (age or experience) there is a tremendous opportunity to help him or her by spending quality time together. This is when you help solidify what is already occurring in their heart. This is also where you can offer guidance as their actions learn to align with what their heart is already experiencing.

As someone continues to mature you release them a bit at a time. Think about Jesus and his followers. They spent massive amounts of life together. When the time came he released them into the roles they were to fill.

They ventured further from the shore with a course of travel in mind.

Isn’t that the way it should be?

Don’t ever forget, though, we (or they) are never alone. As parents, both spiritually and physically, we should always available to help, to encourage, to pray, to offer advice, to pick them up when they fall (they will), and to love them.

This whole nursery rhyme thing reminds me of something else that I read somewhere. I don’t know who said it or where I read it but it goes something like this…

I do, you watch
I do, you help
You do, I help
You do, I watch

This is the pattern of discipleship, whether spiritual or familial. If you’d like a good book to read on this let me suggest “The Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert E. Coleman.

Even better than that… grab a partner, pull up anchor, and head out to sea!