Delighting in the Law of God

Training sons and daughters to be Biblical young men and women is a daunting task and requires patience, diligence, perseverance, and much prayer. However, we are not left helpless in this task for God has given us much instruction about it in His word. The books of Psalms and Proverbs provide us with much material and the Holy Spirit guides us as we apply these truths in the upbringing of our children.

A huge lesson my husband and I learned as we raised our children was that the only way to get our children to delight in the laws of God was for us to truly delight in them ourselves and then to share that delight with them. As obvious as that may seem, it requires careful consideration of how we communicate with our children. For example, our delight in Sunday worship reflects to our children the love we have for the Lord and His people. The complaint, "Why do we have to go to church?" is replied with "Why are we so privileged and so honored to be able to go to church. What a blessing that we don't deserve!" If this is followed by genuine joy and our children see the love we have for worship, we have communicated much.

Psalm 119 reflects much on the blessings that are received to those who "walk according to the law of the Lord" and whose "statutes are my delight; they are my counselors"(Psalm 119: 1b,24). It would do our families and are children well to memorize scripture
and delight in it. Psalm 119:9-16 sums it up very well.

"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, O Lord;
teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word."

Delighting in the Law of God is the most important communication we can give our children as we train our daughters to be beautiful Biblical women and our sons to be Biblically defined men.