What Is The Role of a Christian Grandfather or Grandmother?
by JACK WELLMAN
What part do grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren? Can they contribute significantly to the lives of their grandchildren? If so, in what biblical way can they make a difference?
What Grandparents Should Not Do
Parents of course
have the largest role and influence on their children but
grandparents also have a huge role.
One thing that
grandparents should not be
involved in is interfering or taking sides in their children’s marriage.
How disconcerting it is to hear children’s parents put down by their
grandparents.
On the contrary, I
try to always support and hold up in respect my grandchildren’s parents.
The first marriage
ceremony ever given and by God Himself said that a man should leave his mother
and father and cleave to his wife. The word “cleave” is closer to meaning
glued or bonded to their mates.
The two become one
flesh and so this leaves no room for parents or in-laws to enter into the
marriage, even when they have children involved.
I stopped giving
advice to my children when they got married. I figure, if they need
advice, they will ask for it. To give unsolicited advice is actually
interfering in their own God-ordained marriage.
This means that
grandparents should not try to tell their children how they should raise their children but
allow them to learn themselves.
Of course, if
there is a safety issue where the grandchildren might be harmed, then the
higher principle is to speak to their children about their grandchildren in the
interests of their safety and welfare.
We cannot insist
that our children should use the same methods that we used in raising our
children because they are
the parents … we are not.
Even though this
is so very tempting, grandparents can drive their children farther away and cut
off any possible influence they might have in their grandchildren’s lives.
Bible Verses About Grandparents
But the steadfast love
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his
righteousness to children’s children.
Psalm 103:17
Grandchildren are the
crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
Proverbs 17:6
I am reminded of your
sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother
Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 2
Timothy 1:5
Only take care, and
keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known
to your children and your children’s children.
Deuteronomy 4:9
A good man leaves an
inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up
for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22
Older men are to be
sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in
steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not
slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so
train the young women to love their husbands and children.
Titus 2:2-4
Biblical Grandparents
Many of the
grandparents listed in the Bible had huge impacts on their grandchildren.
Jacob the
grandfather of Ephraim and Manasseh blessed Joseph’s sons.
Naomi was the
grandmother of Obed, who begat Jesse who later begat King David.
Lois was the very
influential grandmother of the pastor and evangelist Timothy.
The grandson of
Hannah was Joel.
Maybe you are a
Christian grandparent. I am a grandfather and all of my grandchildren
have a good working knowledge of the Lord. Every time I see them and
speak to them, I include principles from the Bible so that they might learn
that the Lord is good to those who obey Him and He also disciplines those Who
are His because He loves them.
I love telling
them stories out of the Bible where they can learn lessons that
they can later apply in life when they face their own Goliaths. When they
come across difficult decisions, it is my hope and prayer that they will make
the right decision, even if it is painful.
Being a godly
grandparent is more than just reading the Bible to them, although this is very
important. It is being a godly role model so that when the day comes and
you are gone, they can fondly remember the things that their grandparents did
and hopefully, this will instill in them the desire to do good, just like Lois
did for Timothy.
Grandparents, I
hope you will share your life’s experiences with your grandchildren so that they
will reflect on what you did during difficult times or when you had to make
decisions that may not have felt good but were the right thing to do.
One of my favorite
saying is “the
right thing is not always popular and the popular thing is not always right.“
Next to their
parents, you are quite possibly the greatest influence that they will ever
have. They will see your faults and imperfections, but if you admit them to
them, they can see that it’s okay not to be perfect and to admit it when they
are wrong.
I want my
grandchildren to know that I was never perfect, but the Lord that I trust in
is. That just as we can forgive others who hurt us or use us we can also
be forgiven and so we should forgive others. Why? Because they may
not know Jesus like we do.
I want them to
remember that I did the right thing, I watched the right movies or TV programs,
I said the right things, and that I helped others when I could. Your
grandchildren are watching you. What are they learning?
More is caught
than taught and your words will be drowned out by what you do. You might
say one thing but then do another. That teaches them that being a
hypocrite is okay. When they see you do the right thing and that it
matches what you say, then that is one powerful lesson that will be passed on
and on and on.
Children are a
gift of God but so are grandchildren. Thank God for them. Pray for
them that they might come to saving faith someday. Tell them if “pa pa” or
“gam ah” ever die, they are not really dead but they are waiting for them in
heaven.
Give them hope of
an eternal future. Tell them about Jesus’ saving faith and that God wants them
to come to heaven someday. That way, when you are no longer with them,
they have the hope that they will see you again in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Then, there will
be no more time-outs, there will be no more “take your medicine,” there will be no more scrapped knees, and they
can spend as much time with grandpa and grandma as they want, because there
will also be, no more bedtime!
.
How great is that?
.
How great is that?
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“ONLY ONE LIFE”Lanny Wolfe
lyrics
It
matters so little how much you may own
The
places you’ve been or the people you’ve known
For
it all comes to nothing when place at His feet
It’s
nothing for Jesus, just memories to keep
You
may take all the treasures from far away land
And
take all the riches you can hold in your hand
And
take all the pleasures your money can buy
But
what will you have when it’s your time to die?
*
Only one life so soon it will pass
Only
what’s done for Christ will last
Only
one chance to do His will
So
give to Jesus all your days, it’s the only life that pays
When
you recall you have but one life
The
days pass so swiftly, the months come and go
The
years melt away like a new fallen snow
Spring
turns to summer, and summer to fall
Autumn
brings winter, and death comes to call
Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a
Christian author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS) Brethren
church in Mulvane, Kansas. Graduate work at Moody Bible Institute. His books
are inexpensive paperbacks that are theological in nature: “Teaching Children
The Gospel/How to Raise Godly Children,“ “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God
Allow Suffering?,“ "The Great Omission; Reaching the Lost for
Christ," and “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies
& the Bible."
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/what-is-the-role-of-a-christian-grandfather-or-grandmother-a-bible-study/
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