Charles H. Spurgeon remarked in his autobiography, “Fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God to use in the salvation of their children. I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother. . . . Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.”[1]
Eliza, the mother of the great Victorian preacher, had a profound impact on her son. In the autobiography, Charles recounted an incident from his childhood which exemplified the godliness of his mother.[2] On one occasion, his father John was scheduled to preach. On his way to his assignment, however, John was convicted that he was exerting much effort to better the souls of others, while neglecting the spiritual needs of his family. Thus, John abruptly turned around and returned home. Upon arriving at the house, he found no one on the main floor, and as he climbed the stairs, he heard someone praying. When he approached one of the rooms to listen at the door, he heard Eliza praying. Specifically, she was imploring the Lord for the salvation of her children and particularly for her eldest, Charles, who was apparently a strong-willed child. Concluding that his children were in good hands, John did not disturb Eliza and went to fulfill his preaching assignment.
This brief anecdote illustrates the tremendous impact that a godly mother can have upon her child. On another occasion when he was asked about the secret of his success, Spurgeon said, “I can tell you two reasons why I am what I am: my mother and the truth of my message.”[3] The Prince of Preachers is arguably one of the men most used of God during the last two hundred years in the history of the church, and it was to his mother that he gave the most credit in terms of the shaping influences on his life. The takeaway for us is that parents should not underestimate the profound spiritual impact they can have upon their children.
The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4–9
In a recent sermon at our church, we considered this very theme: the spiritual impact that parents can have on their children. To address this topic, we turned to Deuteronomy 6:4–9, the great Shema of Israel. And in this article, I will lay out foundations of Christian parenting from verses 4–5.
The context of the Shema is straightforward. Moses was about to die, but before he departed this world, he renewed the covenant with Israel. Deuteronomy is the restating of the Law so that Israel can remain and prosper in the promised land. The Shema is at the heart of the Law and contains the basic belief and duty of the people of Israel.[4] Though the specifics will be different, if Christians want to fulfill God’s call upon their lives and receive his blessing, they too need to give heed to the Shema.
A Proper View of God (6:4)
Notice that the Shema begins with a call to the nation to hear and understand who God is. The first thing that Israel needed to hear as they entered the promised land was not military tactics on how to defeat the Canaanites, or agricultural practices to yield the most out of the land, or financial strategies to weather economic downturns. Rather, the first thing that Israel needed to hear was a declaration of who God was.
The confession itself, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one,” can be understood in a few ways. First, the phrase can refer to the uniqueness of God; in other words, the LORD alone is God and “there is no other” (Deut 4:39). Moses’s historical context is important to remember. Israel was surrounded by pagan nations, each with its own pantheon of gods and patron deities. However, Yahweh was not saying that he is the God over Israel in the way Baal is god over the Canaanites; rather, he was declaring that he alone is God, period. This had been shown in Israel’s recent history when Yahweh defeated the gods of Egypt on their own turf.[5] God sent the ten plagues and powerfully delivered his people from bondage to Pharaoh through the Exodus. Moses’s concern as the people entered the land flowing with milk and honey was that they do not forget the God who had redeemed them from slavery. If Israel was going to remain and prosper in the land, they needed to remember that Yahweh alone is God.
Second, this phrase teaches monotheism or the truth that God is one. Both Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions. The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, said that an idol had no real existence. Yet, in a pagan city like Corinth, there were many so-called “gods” and “lords.” For the Christian, however, “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:4–6). The way Christians appropriate the Shema is by including Christ in their confession. We do believe that there is only one God, but we also believe that Jesus is rightly identified with the one God of Israel. When Paul quotes the Shema, he included Jesus within the one Godhead.[6] It was on account of verses like this that the early church articulated the doctrine of the Trinity in their confessions, namely, that there is one God who eternally exists in three eternal persons.
In A. W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy, he says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”[7] According to Tozer, before we can talk about correct parenting, we must talk about correct theology. This is exactly where the Shema begins: by orienting our minds and hearts on who God is. There is nothing more important for our Christian lives than having a proper view of God. Therefore, we must regularly be in the Word as believers—both privately and corporately—and it is prudent to grow in our knowledge of theology. In all of it, we are seeking to grow in our understanding of who God is, what he is like, and what he requires of us, so that we might increasingly know, love, and serve him.
A Proper Love for God (6:5)
The basic argument, or logic, of the passage is that because God alone is God, Israel should love God only and wholly. To put it another way, the nation should love God exclusively and with their whole being. This is the only appropriate response of God’s people, to the God who has created them, sustained them, and redeemed them. Therefore, the Israelites, as well as Christians, are obligated to love God. The word obligated is chosen intentionally because that’s what the passage teaches. The love that a believer must have towards God is not the romantic love between a young couple who are head-over-heels in love with one another, but rather the kind of commitment between a husband and wife, for better or worse, until death do them part.
It is helpful to connect this command to love God and our responsibility as parents. Notice that the foundation of godly parenting is not about knowing the right techniques or keeping up with the latest parenting trends, but rather a robust understanding of who God is and a response of covenantal love to the God who has loved us first. The reason is, because, at the end of the day, your first calling is not to be a parent. Therefore, your identity is neither bound up in how well your parenting is going nor how well your children are behaving or doing at school. Rather, your first calling is to be a follower of Jesus. He has shed his blood for the forgiveness of your sins and commissioned you to the greatest cause the world has ever known. Therefore, Christian parent, the first call upon your life is to love the God who has revealed himself to you through his Son.
Having that foundation laid, in another article, we will consider several principles for parenting from the Shema.
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon: The Early Years, 1834–1859, vol. 1 (London: Banner of Truth, 1962), 44.
[2] The anecdote can be found on Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon: The Early Years, 1:44–45.
[3] J. C. Carlile, C. H. Spurgeon: An Interpretive Biography (London: Kingsgate Press, 1933), 23, quoted in Alex DiPrima, Spurgeon: A Life (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2024), 34.
[4] S. R. Driver says that the Shema contains “the fundamental truth of Israel’s religion” and “the fundamental duty founded upon it.” S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy, 89, quoted in Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 168.
[5] This insight was from Shaun Martens, “The Ministry of the Home” (sermon preached at First Baptist Church, Calgary, AB, September 29, 2024).
[6] Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 125.
[7] A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper One, 1961), 1.
