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Parenting is a huge responsibility. Sometimes you want to build a glass bubble around your children and keep them encapsulated until they're twenty-one. But you can't. And even if you could, it wouldn't be good for them. They'd simply emerge at age twenty-one with the coping skills of the average preschooler. Somehow parents have to allow kids enough freedom to explore and learn from their mistakes, protecting them from serious harm—like a shepherd protects his sheep.

Peter's instructions to Christian leaders serve as excellent guidance for parents. You are to watch over your children (5:2). You are not to be "lords," but instead "examples to the flock" (5:3). You are to be "humble" (5:6). You are to "be sober, be vigilant" (5:8)—advice familiar to parents of infants and teens alike. You are assured that God will "perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you" (5:10).

In the family, parents are the spiritual leaders, so it's appropriate to guard against negative cultural influences. Some parents refuse to own a television, or they keep it in a closet and bring it out only for special occasions. Some parents frequently invite their children's friends into their homes. In that way the parents influence (and protect) their children—and their guests. But wise parents also allow certain freedoms so their children can learn to deal with cultural influences and make wise choices for themselves. (See also Ezra 8:21-34; Psalm 119:97-105; Proverbs 4:10-27; Song of Solomon 8:8-9.)

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, … casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:2-7

Are you living the way you'd want your children to live?

Copyright 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Bible Studies.

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