9 Bible Verses About Parenting Responsibilities

Parenting is serious business, and even veteran parents need guidance sometimes, so here are Bible verses about parenting responsibilities to light the way.

The amount of responsibility that comes with being a parent can be daunting. There was a story about a boy who could never do wrong in his mother’s eyes. He did anything he wanted to do, and soon enough, he fell into some bad company. His mother never said anything throughout. She would even help her son fix the mess he creates.

One day, the police caught the boy, and he was sent to jail. After some time, the mother dared to visit her son, and he said to her, “Do you have a tongue? Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell me that what I was doing was wrong? My life is ruined because of you!” 

A lot of questions can come to us when we become parents. Where do I set boundaries? When should I intervene, and when should I observe? How much am I accountable for? It can be hard to find the balance when you are a parent. Fortunately, we have the Bible to guide us.

What are Bible Verses about Parenting Responsibilities?

Parents are imperfect human beings, and every child is unique, so there are bound to be mistakes along the way. But it does not change the fact that we want to be the best parents to our children; perfect, even. God knows this, so He gave us the Bible to guide us to succeed.

Bible verses about parenting responsibilities are principles in the Bible on how to raise God-fearing and responsible children who love God and live to please Him. Because there are no second chances in raising our children, these biblical principles will guide us on how to do it effectively and right the first time. And the Bible gives the best, timeless principles on parenting. 

What Does the Bible Say About Parenting?

The Bible says that God is our Parent, and aside from being loving, He is also fair and just. He is the perfect parent we can only hope to be. He knows exactly what we are thinking and feeling at any given moment, knows what to do on any occasion, and always knows what is best for us.

As we grow old and until we have children, our earthly parents would start to give us tips and lessons on parenting. God is doing the same thing. He wants the best for all His children, and to do that, we must receive the best care from our earthly parents. 

Best Bible Verses About Parenting Responsibilities

Bible verses about spiritual parenting responsibilities

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

It is our responsibility as parents to introduce God to our children. The thing is, children look at our actions more than they listen to our words. If we want to teach them something, we have to model it. The same goes for parenting. As they say, “Do not tell your children to go to church, bring them.”

Proverbs 22:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Children are like wet cement. It is so easy to make impressions on them, and when the time comes, it will harden, and these impressions will be with them for the rest of their life. Let us make good impressions while the cement is still wet. Let us ensure that our children will never forget about God and His love.

Bible verses about emotional parenting responsibilities

Psalm 103:13

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”

God is our Parent, and He is the best in this department. Let us make God our example in raising, treating, and nurturing our children emotionally. The years they spend with us are the crucial years to build them up so let us always look to God for help and instruction on what to do.

Colossians 3:21

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

Parenting can often feel like you are walking on eggshells, and one mistake could topple everything down. We experience the pressure of wanting everything to be perfect. This can lead to a lot of stress. Stressed people tend to blow up, and the people within the blast radius are the ones closest to us, including our children.

Let us take care of our emotional health to make sure to give our children the best emotional support and not let our troubles and anxieties wound them in any way. Let us ask God for help to be the best parents we can be.

Bible verses about physical parenting responsibilities

2 Corinthians 12:14

“Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have—I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children.”

As parents, it is our responsibility to provide for our children materially and physically. The things that we provide for them, a roof over their heads, food on the table, clothes on their back, and their education and not privileges that we shower on them.

These are our responsibilities to them. It is our job as parents to provide. And we do it because we love them, and we want them to have the best in life. As God provides for us, His children, we should also provide for our children.

1 Timothy 5:8

“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Parents should provide for their children. I know that parents would go to unbelievable lengths to provide for their children, so if you feel like you cannot give them enough, breathe. You are doing your best and if that is not enough, ask God to fill in the gaps because you are His child, and He would love to provide for you.

Bible verses about discipline

Hebrews 12:10-11

“For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us so that we might share in his holiness. 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.”

God disciplines us when we make mistakes, consciously or unconsciously. We have to know that there are consequences to our actions to learn about accountability, and we will do better next time. Discipline is part of our learning process, and if God sees it best to discipline His children, why shouldn’t we?

Proverbs 29:17

“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.”

Children have no concrete idea what is good for them and what is not because they are all about exploring and experimenting. They want to try and experience everything. We, parents, because of our experiences and because we have been where they are now, know better.

Because we do, we have the responsibility to teach them and make them accountable for their actions. Let us make sure that we let them know that we are doing this not to spite them or because we love to exercise our power over them but because we love them, and we will answer to God for how we raised our children.

Proverbs 19:18

“Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise, you will ruin their lives.”

A pastor taught me about the two categories of sin: the sin of commission and the sin of omission. The first is all about the sins that a person committed, and the second one talks about the things they should have done but did not do. 

The Bible tells parents that they should discipline their children. We have learned so many proper ways to discipline our children in ways that would not harm them and benefit them instead. Parents know better because we have already succeeded, failed, and suffered because of our decisions in the past. We have to guide our children toward the best path for them.

In Summary

God is the designer of our lives so He knows what is best for us. Bible verses about parenting responsibilities focus on the heart and not just on outward behavior. They transform the heart of our children so they become all that God designed them to be and live a life pleasing to Him. 

They say the kind of parenting we experienced would inevitably be the kind of parenting we would practice. Let us make God’s parenting of us be our guide and model.