Top 7 Bible Verses For New Parents

Are you a new parent? Is there help in the Bible for you?  Here are my top 7 Bible verses for new parents.

First Samuel 1:27-28 “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

Here was Hannah acknowledging that the child she had was from the Lord. She had been childless for many years but finally, she gave birth to a child and “lent him to the Lord” and his name was Samuel, which is interpreted “God has heard” but the strict definition from the Hebrew word “Shĕmuw’el” is “his name is El (or God).” Samuel would end up anointing David who would be in the lineage of Jesus Christ.  For many new parents, there children are an answer to their prayer so make sure to regularly thank God for them.

Psalm 127:3-5a “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”

Parents, please do not ever take your children for granted because they are a reward and a heritage or a gift from God.  Whoever has been blessed by children, it is no accident because children are “from the Lord” and ultimately they are given to us by the sovereignty and will of God.

Matthew 18:5-6 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Since we know that children are a gift of God and that He alones grants children, Jesus gives a warning that “whoever causes one of these little ones…to sin” would be better off being cast into the sea with a heavy millstone around the neck and drowned.  That is a picture of God’s judgment, as the sea and water often is.  That is why we should not “look down on any of these little ones [because Jesus says] that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father” (Matt 18:10).

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Here is a specific scriptural reference that even an embryo is a person and in fact, God sees us as being alive before we were even formed in the womb or ever born.  Not everyone will be “a prophet to the nations” but God has appointed each of us with a specific purpose in life and what that purpose is for the new parent’s child is impossible to say right now, except the fact that we are created to glorify God.  That much we do know.

Mark 9:36-37 “Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

You don’t have to convince new parents that their children should be welcomed into the world but had you ever thought that when we welcome or receive children, we are also welcoming Jesus because we do this on “His behalf.”  What does Jesus mean “welcoming them like this?”  Jesus took them “in His arms” which means that He embraced them tenderly and so when we do this to children, we do this on His behalf.

Deuteronomy 11:19 “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Parents have been given their children as a gift of God but with this giving comes a very serious responsibility.  We are to admonish them and teach them the ways of the Lord.  This means when you get up in the morning, when you are going places with them, when they lie down in bed at night…and even “when you are sitting in your house” you should be teaching them about God and ways to be obedient to Him.  God gave us children but He expects us to train them up in the Lord (Prov 22:6).  If we discipline them from an early age, you can have a lot more peace around the home (Prov 29:17).

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

The primary responsibility, according to the biblical pattern, is that fathers must discipline their children, but they can too easily provoke them to anger.  Fathers and mothers both should “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” but parents can go overboard on discipline and provoke them to anger because they are children. They are going to act like children and they are going to do foolish things (Prov 22:15) so we shouldn’t be surprised by the way that they act….so don’t over-expect or you’ll provoke them to anger.

Conclusion

If you have never repented and trusted in Christ, you are not a child of God but a child of the Devil (John 8:44) and it is obvious that those who don’t have God as their Father have Satan as their father (1 John 3:10).  If you have, then are a child of God and if you have your own children, think about how God treats us, His own children; He is patient with us, He is longsuffering with us, He is kind to us, He treats us better than we deserve, and He loves us unconditionally.  That is, He loves us despite our behaviors and shortcomings. He may not like our actions but He loves us.  He has given us the perfect model of what is expected of Christian parents.   That model should be our guide.

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon