TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT WAY!

When children start coming into a family the question that usually comes to mind is “How can I make sure that my child/ren will go in the right way he or she should go so that he or she will not be misled off the path of righteousness?

First, parenting a child/ren the way God would want us to is beyond our human ability. Therefore, we need to partner with Him and partake of His gifts of wisdom, discernment, revelation and guidance. Also, we must ask God to give us the love, patience, strength, the nurturing and communication skills we must have to be able to raise them up properly.

Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

If a child is train in the way he should go, when the responsibility to stay in it comes, he will do so. When you give a child a complete series of instructions on every step he is to take, when he is taught how to perform his duties, how to escape from danger, how to appropriate the blessings of the way, and stamp these lessons on his soul and lead him to practice them until it becomes part of his life and nature, and then bath him in prayer and instill the fear of God into his life, he will not depart from it.

In the process of helping our children “choose the right path” we must discern differing path for each child. It is natural to want to bring up all our children alike or train them the same way. It is the duty of the parents to discern the individuality and special strengths that God has given each one. While we should not condone or excuse self-will, each child has natural inclinations that parents can develop their individual capabilities of each child. Many parents want to make all the choices for their children, but this hurts them in the long run. When parents teach a child how to make decisions, they don’t have to watch every step they take. They know their children will remain on the right path because they have made the choices themselves.

When a child is growing up to know what is right and wrong, it is the responsibility of the parents to let the child understand who God is and what He requires from him or her. A child should understand that he or she was born a sinner and therefore has that inclination to please himself or herself rather than God. And then must ask God to cleanse him or her from within and fill his or her heart and spirit with God’s thought and desires because right conduct can come only from a clean heart and spirit. A child must be thought to put God first in his or her life and serve and obey God in everything he or she does. When a child knows in his or her sub consciousness that without God he or she will amount to nothing in life, it will guide him or her to walk in the right way.

Proverbs 22:15 says “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Young children often do foolish and dangerous things simply because they don’t understand the consequences. Wisdom and common sense are not transferred by a parent’s good example alone. Just as God trains and correct us to make us better in Proverbs 3:11-12, not that He enjoys inflicting pains on us but because He is deeply concerned about our development. So also must parents discipline their children to help them learn the difference between right and wrong?

Proverbs 22:13-14 says vs13 “Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with rod, he shall not die. Vs 14: Thou shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell.”

Many parents are reluctant to discipline their children at all. Some fear that they will forfeit their relationship, their children will resent them, or they will stifle their children’s development. But correction won’t kill children, and it may prevent them from foolish moves that will.

Without the spiritual support of the parents to their children, they would be left alone with their sin and Satan. Parents should out of love punish their children to correct and restore them to God.

Ephesians 6:4 says “And, ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Colossians 3: 21 says “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

The purpose of parents disciple is to help children grow, not to exasperate and provoke them to anger or discouragement. Parenting is not easy – it takes lot of patience to raise children in a loving, Christ-honoring manner. But frustration and anger should not be causes for discipline. Instead parents should act in love, treating their children as Jesus treats the people He loves. This is vital to children’s development and to their understanding of what Christ is like. Also, favoritism should be avoided in the families as it would aggravate a strained relationship between the favored child and the other siblings. Parents may not be able to change their feelings towards a favorite child, but they can change their actions towards the others. Children must be handled with care. They need firm discipline administered in love. Don’t aggravate them by nagging, deriding or destroying their self-respect so that they quit trying.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says vs. 6: “And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. Vsv7: and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall 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.”

If you want your children to follow God, you must make God a part of your everyday experience. You must teach your children diligently to see God in all aspects of life, not just those that are church related. Make your child to be LIFE-ORIENTED and not INFORMATION-ORIENTED. The key to teaching your children to follow God is when parents themselves are living a lifestyle of faith in God and taking God’s word an integral part of their life. You can only impact what you have into your children.  In Psalms 78:5, God commanded that the stories of His mighty acts in the Bible be passed on from parents to children. This will help them to obey God and set their hope on Him alone.

Psalms 127:3-5 says vs3: “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His word. Vs4: As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Vs5: Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”

Too often children are seen as liabilities rather than assets. But the Bible calls children “a gift from the Lord”, a reward. Those who view children as a distraction or nuisance should instead see them as an opportunity to shape the future. We dare not treat children as an inconvenience when God values them so highly.