ABOUT OUR CHILDREN

Children grow up with no clear understanding of right and wrong and with little direction to their lives. The greatest responsibility that God gives parents is the nurture and guidance of their children.

 Proverbs 13:24 says “He that spareth his rod hated his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

It is not easy for a loving parent to discipline a child, but it is necessary. Lack of discipline puts parents’ love in question because it shows a lack of concern for the character development of their children.  Disciplining children averts long-range disaster. Don’t be afraid to discipline your children. It is an act of love. Remember, however, that your efforts cannot make your children wise, they can only encourage your children to seek God’s wisdom above all else.

There is this old saying “A rotten apple spoils the barrel”. Our friends and associates affect us, sometimes profoundly. Parents should know their children’s friends and help in advising them to select godly children as friends. Proverbs 13:20 says “He that walketh with the wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed”

When the friends of your children are godly, definitely, they will impact godly values in them and they will not compromise their path in order to gain worldly acceptance. But when you leave your children unchecked as regards to the friends they keep, they may fall into the hands of the foolish children who will turn them away from God and as a result obtain that destruction that comes with following foolish friends. Mathew 18:6 says “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it was better for them that a milestone were hanged about his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea”.

Children are trusting by nature. Because they trust adults, they are easily led to faith in Christ. God holds parents and other adults accountable for how they influence these little ones. Jesus warned that anyone who turns little children away from faith in Him will receive severe punishment.

2 Cor 6:14 says “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness”

There is every inclination for a growing child to make friends with godly if not guided. It is the duty of the parent/s to do everything in their power to avoid a situation that could force their children to make friends with the ungodly; this does not mean isolating them from the ungodly, because it might weaken their Christian commitment, integrity, or standards. Hebrews 12:9 says “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live?

Who loves his children more – the father who allows the children to do what will harm him or the one who corrects trains and even punishes the children to help him learn what is right? It’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but his discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. So when parents correct their children, they should make them understand it as a proof of your love and not hatred.

 2 Timothy 2:16 says “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness”

Parents should know that what they do is more important to their children than what they say and who they are is more important than what they do. Therefore, they should not argue in front of their children because such argument will get them confused and even harmful to their physic.