In my humble opinion, there are some things that are very important for parents to teach their children. If you don't teach them these things, there will be unpleasant consequences.
Teach your children about authority - I have often said, if you don't teach your children about authority, someone else will. And unfortunately, it may be an authority that you would rather your children not have interaction with. If you don't teach your children about authority, the government (i.e. police or prison officials) will have to. Children need to learn that they will always answer to someone else. Children answer to their parents or at least they should. Women answer to their husbands (1 Peter 3:1). Workers answer to their bosses. We all answer to our governments. If we do not live within the laws of our land, there will be consequences. Teach your children to submit to authority.
Teach your children about God - if you don't, they will learn about Him at The Judgement. Wouldn't it be sad if your children never know about God until they have to meet Him face to face and give an account for their life (Hebrews 9:27).
Teach your children about love - this world certainly won't. It will teach them about lust, about hate, about war, about death. But you have the wonderful opportunity to teach your children about love - your love for them, God's love for them, their opportunities to love others, and the pure love of a husband and a wife. You can also give them an excellent example of a parent's love for a child, showing them the love God has for His children. The love of God for His children is our ultimate example of how parents love their children.
Teach your children about money - the consequences of this one can be life-long. The Bible tells us the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Teach your children that money is a tool - to be used for good. Teach them how to manage their money, to be a good steward of the things God has blessed them with. Teach them how debt will enslave them. Teach them how to live within their means. Teach them to be generous and giving to others. That is definitely something the world will NOT teach them.
Teach your children patience and contentment. These two things are tied in with teaching your children about money. They are hard things to learn and hard to teach but this will be a sad life indeed if we never learn patience and contentment. You will never have peace if you do not learn these things. Teach your children how to wait - for things (help them to save their money to buy something they really want - don't just buy them whatever they want whenever they want. That teaches them that the world "owes" them anything they should happen to desire). Teach them how to wait for special occasions - help them to learn patience when waiting for Christmas or Birthdays, or any special occasion. I believe the best way to teach a child patience is to help them learn to be unselfish - to focus on others rather than themselves. Teach them how to be servants, which is what we are all to be. Christ was our ultimate example of serving, of patience and contentment, of being completely unselfishness.
Raising children is not an easy job. It requires a lot of work and is not for the faint of heart. The joys of raising godly children, though, are priceless.
