Every time I write about parenting, people email me asking for more.  I understand.  Parenting is hard work.  Most people who follow my ministry know this is one area of my life that I have taken very serious.  One specific desire Cheryl and I had in raising our children was to encourage them to love Christ and display His character.  It’s great to teach our children how to play sports or to do well in school, and I think we should, but our greatest goal should be to help them be people who aspire to have good character; specifically the character of Christ. 
 
Recognizing that the Bible is a great guide, I once developed a model for parenting called Olive Tree Parenting.  This model is based upon a couple verses of Scripture. 
  
Psalm 128:3 says, “Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.” 
Psalm 144:12 says, “Our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants.” 
     
Here are a few facts about olive trees:
   
*They were a symbol of peace and happiness to Hebrews.
*It takes some varieties 8-10 years to even bear fruit.
*It takes 20-50 years for an olive tree to be mature and really productive.
*No one knows for sure how long they grow, but estimate is at least 300-600 years, with some estimates up to 2000 years.
*When the tree trunk of an olive tree dies new sprouts come out keeping the tree alive.
*Olive trees are evergreens. 
     
Using the Biblical model of olive trees I saw some easy parallels in raising children.  I firmly believe we are more likely to get out of life what we actually aim for, so our goal became to raise children to be adults that bear righteous fruit for generations and we began to think strategically how to develop Biblical characteristics of fruit in our two boys. 
   
The Bible also gives us some clear indication of what righteous fruit looks like.  Galatians  5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
   
Over the next few days I will address each one of these aspects of spiritual fruit and provide some action steps to help realize this fruit in our children. 

Related posts:

1. Olive Tree Parenting (Growing Children of Character) Part 2
2. Olive Tree Parenting (Growing Children of Character) Part 4
3. Olive Tree Parenting (Growing Children of Character) Part 3
4. An Important Parenting Concept: Especially for Parents of Young Children
5. Parenting For A Purpose