On Children

On Children

Psalm 61

The Lord gave the job of educating our children to us, their parents, if we do not do this who will? We cannot leave this to others. We must to the best of our ability be good overseers of our children. Although there are many people who have spoken suggestions to parents, we are going to begin to understand what our position is and why, today.

The Lord told us He is our Good Shepherd, our Teacher, Our Father who teaches us all things.

We mothers and fathers must take care to teach our children just as the Lord teaches us. They need to know from our experiences as well: how has the Word of God been our guide, how has it helped us or instructed us,etc?

God tells it to us this way in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Verses 20-25: And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers.

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.

There is a fear that has been put into the minds and hearts of mankind, the parents of today the fear of correcting children of teaching them to keep their place as God would have them to do. Ephesians 6:1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Children are being taught in today's world to turn on their parents to make independent decisions (without parental knowledge or consent in some cases). They're being thrown away from parental guardianship because of the many deceptive teachings of man. In one instance, “Follow your heart” when scripture says, Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child... We must learn to recognize what these teachings are so we do not fall into that manner of thinking.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Because there is so much conflict and confusion, many people have difficulty governing their household because they struggle with how to go about doing it. The ways of the Lord (the old ways) are considered “out of date”, “not in style”, “old fashioned”, and not applicable in today's world. People say we are coming to a new age, a new frame of mind, a new way of thinking, etc., among other things. However, the Lord tells us: Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein (Jeremiah 6:16) (see also Jeremiah 18:15-16).

Consider: to think about carefully: such as - to think of especially with regard to taking some action - to take into account - to gaze on steadily or reflectively

Dust off the Bible that's been sitting unused on the shelf and see what the ways of the Lord are. This is His teaching for our lives, the order of creation, how He designed for us to live. Any way outside of God's way is false, is deception, leads us in the way of evil. May the name of the Lord be praised because He leads us into Life Everlasting. Glory to God!

John 12:48-50 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.

The Lord molds us and trains us in the way we ought to go and guides us; so also we, being given charge of our children BY GOD, not by man, must teach them in the way that they ought to go, for their benefit, as unto the Lord.

In Judges 13:8-14, we can see how Manoah asked the Lord to instruct him and his wife how they were to raise the child Samson and the Lord answered him, even instructing them about the mother's diet during the pregnancy. This is a wonderful example showing us God's concern for children before and after birth. This is more than a great concept, it is the reality that even what the mother does before the child's birth matters and will have an affect on her child. Note the Wisdom of the Almighty God who is Creator of the universe, who knows all things...

Children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward (Psalm 127:3).

They are part of His treasures, His blessings to us. Now, we can either take these treasures and train, nourish, guard, prune, and support them, like a well-tended garden, or we can let them go the way they will, grow wild, unruly, and unguarded due to lack of training.

We only have a short period of time to raise these children in the way they ought to go.

I was talking to my husband about this one day and was impacted by this thought: 'I only have one chance at raising them; I want to do the best I can because I don't want to mess this up'. Honestly, it kind of scared me, to think that whatever I instill in these children that God has given us is what they will have with them for the rest of their lives.

We as parents are to teach in order to equip these children to follow these guides for their lives. Every seed you plant: every thought, everything you teach them is important; they take it in and it will either do them good, or it will harm, just like a plant.

It is not always easy, we make mistakes, but we learn from those mistakes and move forward. It is a learning and refining process both for the parent and the child. What we learn from our Father, who is God, we pass it on to our children. God be praised!!!

1st Peter 5:2-4

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

In the scripture, as God (through the apostle Peter) speaks to the elders of the church, it applies well to fathers and mothers.

Teach them out of love - most importantly for their soul, not because you are forced or because you HAVE TO, but willingly.

Don't do the work looking for some reward or for praise, but with the mind set to do it as unto the Lord.

Teach them patiently... If you don't have patience, ask God, and put patience into practice.

Correct them as is needed; not too much as it will tend to suffocate them or could cause damage; but not too little to where they have no boundaries or limitations. Either extreme (just as in a recipe or in gardening) may have not so good results, there must be BALANCE. Ask God for guidance.

Remember: these are not our children to do with as we will, they are God's.

Each child has a different gift or talent each child learns differently.

Teach them in the way that they will learn most effectively. This will take trial and error.

Most importantly:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. (Proverbs 3:5-6, 7)

God bless and may His name be praised from this time forth and even forevermore.

Amen and Amen.

Without Him I would be lost; With Him I have Life and that more abundantly.

Glory to the Almighty Living God!!

I love you Lord, for ever and always. You are all I have and You are all I need.