Psalm 127:3-5 NLT: "3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates."

Psalm 112:1-2: NASB: "1 Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. 2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed."

Four words that will change the legacy of your kids:

1. Affirm

a. SPEAK LIFE.

• Into their value
• Into their identity
• Into their intelligence
• Into their personality

b. FIND THE GOOD.

• Look for it! Many parents look only for the bad.
• If the only feedback your children get from you is "don't do this" and "don't do that," they'll stop wanting to hear from you.

c. SPEAK FAITH. Speak the things you want to see.

d. What you affirm, they will do.

2. Discipline

• Hebrews 12:11 NLT: "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way."
• Proverbs 13:24 NLT: "Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them."
• Proverbs 23:13-14 NLT: "13 Don't fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won't kill them. 14 Physical discipline may well save them from death."
• 1 Kings 1:5-6 NLT: "5 About that time David's son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, ‘I will make myself king.' So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. 6 Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, ‘Why are you doing that?' Adonijah had been born next after Absalom, and he was very handsome."
• Two extremes in discipline: abusive—not out of love, but anger; passive—not out of love, but laziness.
  • Discipline takes love. REFUSE TO BE ANGRY.
  • Discipline takes discipline. REFUSE TO BE PASSIVE.
• Rules of discipline
  • Draw clear lines.
  • Always discipline when the line is crossed.
  • Never get in between your children and the consequences of their behavior.
  • Never discipline in anger.
  • IT NEVER PRODUCES POSITIVE RESULTS.
  • Cool off before you discipline.
• Take time to teach.
  
  • Don't just spank your children, but train them.
  • Say, "This is going to help you remember."

3. Train

• Proverbs 22:6 NLT: "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."
• Spiritual training
  • Deuteronomy 6:7 NLT: "Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."
  • Teach your children biblical truths.
  • Read your Bible every day and extract the most interesting story, and then tell it to your children before they go to bed. Use it to teach them something about God.
  • Train them on the nature and character of God.
• Natural training
  • How to handle money
  • How to handle household responsibilities
  • How to work
  • Never let the natural eclipse the spiritual.
  • Mark 8:36-37 NLT: "36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul."

4. Protect

• Protect your children from wrong relationships and influences: "Bad company ruins good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33 NASB).
• Bad friendships: If you choose your children's friends, they will turn out okay. The loudest voice in their lives comes from their siblings, then their peers, and last is you. CHOOSE THEIR FRIENDS, CHOOSE THEIR FUTURE.
• Dangerous scenarios
• Dangerous life choices
  • Help them choose a life partner—Abraham wanted a woman for Isaac who had his values and heritage.
  • If you have built the relationship, the equity is there for you to give counsel.