Christian Parenting Quotes

Here’s a compilation of Christian parenting quotes from Children’s Ministry Basics. Use them to inspire and encourage, formulate ideas, stimulate discussion, consider the truth they represent, or use them as practical advice.

The primary parenting task is to help children be exclusively devoted to Jesus and fully committed citizens in His kingdom. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Orientating our parenting begins, not with our children’s hearts, but with our own hearts. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Christian parenting is participation in a Divine activity. It’s joining together, sharing, contributing, and collaborating with God in what He’s doing with our children. It’s relying not on what we can do ourselves, but on Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Our number one priority should be to help our children (with the empowering of the Holy Spirit) to love, know, serve, honour, and treasure Jesus above all else. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

You can’t outsource your child’s faith formation. What takes place in your home profoundly impacts the spiritual health of your child. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

You’re a parent to trumpet God’s majesty, not to toot your own horn. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

God entrusted parents, not the church, with the primary responsibility of nurturing their children’s love and commitment to Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Orientating our parenting begins, not with our children’s hearts, but with our own hearts. Click To Tweet

No parent extends grace better than the one who knows he urgently needs it. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

God wants your children to believe and belong to Him even more than you do. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

How you’re living for Jesus as a parent today impacts the future spiritual well-being of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Christian parenting facilitates Jesus’ plans and purposes for His children. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Are you parenting with the end in mind? God wants children to come to Him (cf. Matthew 19:14). If God wants children to come to Him, then the main thing Christian parents should want for their children is a vibrant relationship with Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Every parental interaction is a moral enterprise shaping a child’s faith development. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Your child watches you like a hawk. Are your actions lining up with your words? Jesus must be more than a label; He must be the consuming purpose of your life. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

No parent extends grace better than the one who knows he urgently needs it. Click To Tweet

Christian parents recognize that their children are God’s children. He loves them more than any parent can ever love them. And as such, He does what’s best for them. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Be for your children, the touch of Jesus’ hand, the melody of His voice, the smile on His face, and the warmth of His embrace. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Parents should invest themselves fully in connecting their children with Jesus and His Story. If they don’t, they compromise the healthy development of their children’s faith. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Find your identity in Christ, not in your children. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Your beliefs and practices are the benchmarks for your child’s faith formation. You have far more influence on your children than you think. Most of the time, children grow up to be products of what their parents believe. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Parents need to be the driving force in the faith formation of their children. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

The resourcing parents need from local churches isn’t another family devotional; it’s counselling and guidance to help them love the Lord with undivided hearts. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Only when we have a genuine connection with Jesus will we have something of value to share with our children. Click To Tweet

Children’s faith formation requires you to be hands-on and hands-off. A spiritually discerning parent knows when to act and when not to get in the way of what the Holy Spirit is doing. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Christian parenting isn’t a particular denominational style or the latest trending curriculum – it’s teamwork – specifically, teamwork with Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Be intentional. You have 936 weeks to do what needs to be done! Don’t squander the time. Connect your children with Jesus and His Story every week. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

The primary responsibility for children’s spiritual health and growth rests with parents – not teachers, pastors, or counsellors. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Knowing what you can and can’t do is indispensable to good parenting. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Christian parents must find ways to dialogue about faith without closing lines of inquiry or obstructing critical reflection. When parents instruct their children, they must do so in a way that encourages them to ask questions, analyze, and evaluate what they’re learning. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Children require boundaries and guidelines, but we can’t look to rules to do what only God’s grace can do. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Parents are the most potent human force shaping the faith development of their children! Click To Tweet

Only when we have a genuine connection with Jesus will we have something of value to share with our children. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Children may not listen to what we say about Jesus if we don’t listen to them. You may be hearing your children, but are you listening? Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Let’s not settle for what’s good; let’s aim to give our children the best. More than anything, they need truth – the living Truth – Jesus Christ. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

What are we really teaching our sons and daughters? If we want our children to live for Jesus, they must see Jesus living in us! Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

It’s always wrong for parents to force, dictate, or pressure their children into a relationship with Jesus. When parents disciple children in the way of Christ, they should do it gently with bucketloads of grace. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Don’t assume you have authority that you don’t have; it produces all kinds of parenting difficulties. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Your role and responsibilities as a parent are commissioned by God. In His economy, it’s not an accident that you’re your child’s dad or mom. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Don’t assume you have authority that you don’t have; it produces all kinds of parenting difficulties. Click To Tweet

Christian parenting is more than a transaction – more than embedding key truths, beliefs, values and character traits into children. It’s a family connecting and cooperating with the Holy Spirit. It’s abiding in Christ – experiencing Him first-hand. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Parents are the most potent human force shaping the faith development of their children! Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

God gave us children to draw them to Him. If we’re not doing that, all the mother-daughter outings, dad-son quests, sports, clubs, recitals, parties, and family adventures are just a waste of time. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

If we don’t point children in the right direction, Satan will point them in the wrong direction! Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

God hand-picked your child(ren) for your family. He’s chosen you to care for them and teach them His Word. Your child is more than your progeny – he/she is your protégé. So, parent with the end in mind. Share everything with your child(ren) that you know about loving and living for Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

The biblical instructions to disciple children are always to parents, not to schools or churches. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

The parenting battle isn’t the behaviour or attitude of our children; it’s fighting for who will rule their hearts. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Sometimes our preoccupation with clubs and extramural activities for our children doesn’t allow Him a word in edgeways. Sharing Jesus with children happens best when there’s a light touch. More children would connect with Jesus if we allowed Him to move into the center while we slipped off to the sidelines. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

This is why you’re a parent – to make Jesus the highest priority for your family. Click To Tweet

Good parenting includes what God is doing through us in our children and what He’s doing through our children in us. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Parents must identify and separate themselves from their failures, unrealized longings, or unbiblical expectations. If parents don’t do this, it will handicap their capacity to disciple their families. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

We can’t profess what we don’t possess. Children are looking for the real deal. It’s not enough to believe the right things. Children must see us living out what we believe. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

It’s a shameful denial of the power of God to restrict the scope of your parenting to the scope of your ability. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Good parenting is contagious. Your children will become parents much like you. What you’re doing, or not doing, will trickle down from one generation to the next. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

This is why you’re a parent – to make Jesus the highest priority for your family. In the midst of all the worries, distractions, challenges, uncertainties, and difficulties, do one thing well – help your children see Jesus. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Become the person you want your children to be! God will not let you down. Through the empowering of the Holy Spirit “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” Philippians 1:6. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

Embracing what Christ does through you is the best parenting thing you can do. Dr. Lawson Murray, Children’s Ministry Basics.

What Does the Bible Say About Parenting?

Parenting With the End in Mind.