A quote worthy of our attention and deep meditation, from a forthcoming book by John Piper:
The most fundamental task of a mother and father is to show God to the
children. Children know their parents before they know God. This is a
huge responsibility and should cause every parent to be desperate for
God-like transformation. The children will have years of exposure to
what the universe is like before they know there is a universe. They
will experience the kind of authority there is in the universe and the
kind of justice there is in the universe and the kind of love there is
in the universe before they meet the God of authority and justice and
love who created and rules of the universe. Children are absorbing from
dad his strength and leadership and protection and justice and love;
and they are absorbing from mother her care and nurture and warmth and
intimacy and justice and love—and, of course, all these overlap.And all this is happening before the child knows anything about God,
but it is profoundly all about God. Will the child be able to recognize
God for who he really is in his authority and love and justice because
mom and dad have together shown the child what God is like. The chief
task of parenting is to know God for who he is in his many attributes,
and then to live in such a way with our children that we help them see
and know this multi-faceted God. And, of course, that will involve
directing them always to the infallible portrait of God in the Bible.