Raising Godly Children
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Raising Godly Children

    July 20, 2018

Introduction

God is more interested in the quality of your children than their quantity. God is interested in: (a) your ability to pass the baton of spiritual maturity to the next generation, (b) your careful and smooth passing of the baton without it falling down, and (c) your passing it completely at the safe zone. Failure of parenting is leadership with failed succession plan; it is an approaching tornado, a monumental tragedy.

loss of faith through generations

The death of Joshua and his generation marked the end of knowing and serving God. Joshua succeeded Moses but Joshua had no successor. Joshua’s generation knew the Lord by experience and served Him (Jos. 2:7). The immediate generation after Joshua which probably knew God by history also served Him. But the next generation did not know God because they didn’t experience or hear about Him. Wasting the window of opportunity for training a child is like losing a needle in the sand. Parents who neglect the early training for wealth often spend their wealth and life seeking their children. Eccl. 3:1; Pro. 19:18, 22:6.

AVOID GENERATIONAL GAP IN TRANSMISSION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

  1. Parents are to develop personal relationship with God (Deut 6:5-6; Ps. 128:3; 2 Tim 1:5). You cannot give what you don’t have. Your genuine devotion will inspire your children. If it is difficult to raise godly children in godly home, it is virtually impossible in ungodly and dysfunctional family.
  2. Love your spouse and family (Mal 2:12-14; Col 3:18-21). Strong marriage foundation is needed for godly parenting. God expects the family to be the first place a child experiences the love of God.
  3. Be Your Child’s Role Model (Acts 1:1; Eph 5:1; Gen 20:2; 26:6). Children have inherent social skills to imitate; so be your child’s first teacher and role model. Live the values you want to see in them. Inspire, influence and motivate them to follow God.
  4. Spend time with your Wards (Mark 3:14). True friendship grows in an earthen pot environment, rather than in a microwave environment. A child’s values are impacted by the person he spends his greatest time with. Your love for him is reflected by the time you spend with him, not the toys you give.
  5. Know your children personally (Psa 139:14; Prov 20:11): Children have different personalities, temperaments, gifts, etc. Be the first to discover them and channel them rightly. Ignorance of this can make a parent an opposition. Learn to build positive traits and weed out negative ones.
  6. Diligently teach and instruct your wards in the fear of the Lord; and Lead them to Christ. Deut 6:7-9; Eph 6:4; 2 Tim 3:15. True faith begins with right doctrine.
  7. Discipline them (Pro. 29:15; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14). Discipline is training in righteousness and a mark of love. Even God disciplines His children. Non-punitive discipline is to train while punitive is to correct. Discipline delivers a child from destruction. Apply healthy discipline and strike a balance between corrective communication and punishment without being abusive.
  8. Protect them (Neh 7:3; 1 John 2:12-14; Matt 6:22-23). Children are vulnerable to all deceptions. Sadly many parents ignorantly allow Satan into their homes through games, toys, music, TV, internet, etc.
  9. Use prosperity and pleasure positively (1 Kg 1:6; Phil. 4:5). Don’t allow prosperity to distort perception of reality. Always draw a line between wants and needs. Self-gratification develops a culture of entitlement that eliminates persistence, patience and self-restraint.
  10. Encourage them to have their own personal experience with God (Matt 16:16). Most children turn away from God at adult stage because they grew up without personal experience in God. They rely on their parents’ experience only. Don’t over protect them from life’s realities; encourage them to trust God in trials.
  11. Do not provoke your wards (Col 3:21; Eph 6:4). Don’t tempt or push them beyond their threshold through provocation. Don’t abuse discipline, neither should you neglect nor condemn them through your nagging, making comparison, not listening, unrealistic expectations, using double standards, etc. These can precipitate rebellion towards you or your instructions.
  12. Pray for them (Matt 20:20; Jam 5:17; 1 Chr. 29:19). Parents can change the course of history through prayer. Most parents have neglected this tool of raising godly children. There are unwritten codes behind children’s behaviours that psychological theories can’t decode. However, every seed of prayer sown will bring forth a harvest of righteousness.

CONCLUSION

Parents are caretakers of the children in their custody. It is paramount that we train up our wards in the way of the Lord so that as they come of age, they will continue to walk in the way.

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