As Christian parents, we should be the most thoughtful and intentional parents that there are...
Most parents have goals for their children, or at least some sort of things they would not want their children to become later on in life. Some parents have goals of their children getting a certain career, or at least being successful academically. ( Although higher education has become a stumbling block for many young people) Of course, as parents, we should desire for our children to learn and do well with their studies. But never should any education or college be placed higher than giving our children a Biblical, Christian education and daily character training.
As Christian parents, our highest hopes for our children should be that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to live their lives pleasing to God. Of course, we cannot save our children ourselves nor can we force them to BE saved. But every day, we can point them to a Savior, and model for them what a true Christian life is like--a life of holiness--not perfection, but of striving to do all we can for the Lord...a life of humble submission to the Lord...a life of true repentance when we sin. Hopefully, in our homes, this is lived out daily because it does very little good to take our children to church and “name the name of Christ” if we are not living consecrated lives for Him 24/7 at home.
Some parents, even us Christian parents, at times, make careless mistakes when it comes to parenting. Most the time, it is due to just not taking no thought in what appetites we are growing in our children. Our children want something, or they want to do something they sees others doing, and we as the parent consents, especially if we can find no specific Scripture to condemn the specific thing or activity. After all, there are several other people doing it--these other people might even be Christians, or at least those who regularly come to church services. As parents, we don't want our children to feel "left out" or be different. Perhaps some parents reason that they will avoid some sort of rebellion if they give in to their children's wishes whenever possible.
But as parents, we must have foresight. We parents must not only worry about the here and now, but we must have an eye to the future. We must take the time and think about how what we allow into our children's lives now will affect them in the future. We must not be lazy parents, but careful, prayerful parents. We must take everything we give to our children, and allow our children to do, and examine it in the light of God’s Word and what appetites it will cause to grow in our children.
What appetite will the books that we allow our young children to read cause? Will they produce a love for Jesus and the truth of God's Word? Or will it result in a consuming love for living in an imaginary world, a love for fantasy, and things that could never happen, dampening a reverence for the real miracles of the Bible? Will it cause a love for following after one's emotions, instead of relying on prayer, God's Word, and Godly counsel from one's parents? For girls, is that book going to foster a love for being at home and loving family life, or will it nurture a spirit of independence and a feministic mindset? For boys, is it encouraging a hard work ethic, being responsible and to one day become a leader and provider for his family?
Friendships are another big consideration. We must be very careful about our children's friendships. It is important that we be involved with our kids and their friends closely. We know that "foolishness is bound in the heart of a child" (Proverbs 22:15), so why do we allow our children to run off and play together out of sight and earshot? So many times children get into trouble together and come up with foolish ideas together and do sinful things. I'm sure you can look back on your childhood days and remember some of the foolish things you and your friends got into. Also, just because other children are homeschooled or may have other similar views to you, does not mean you hold all views the same. We must also be sure that we do not know what goes on in the privacy of other people's homes! Just because we have a general idea of how a family is when we see them once a week or so at church or some other function, we do not have any clue on what is allowed in their homes all week long. Since we cannot control what others do in their own homes and everyone is in a different place in their walk with God, we must be careful and watchful with our own children, for their sake. We must remember that our children are our own responsibility, a sacred trust given to us from the Lord. Charles Spurgeon once said,
O dear mothers, you have a very sacred trust reposed in you by God! He hath in effect said to you, “Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages.” You are called to equip the future man of God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If God spares you, you may live to hear that pretty boy speak to thousands, and you will have the sweet reflection in your heart that the quiet teachings of the nursery led the man to love his God and serve Him.
Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is doing nothing, think the reverse of what is true. Scarcely can the godly mother quit her home for a place of worship; but dream not that she is lost to the work of the church; far from it, she is doing the best possible service for her Lord.
Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty. Christian women, by teaching children the Holy Scriptures, are as much fulfilling their part for the Lord, as Moses in judging Israel, or Solomon in building the temple.
In too many of our homes, there is a careless attitude about the internet, tablets, iPads, computers, videos and video games. We must be vigilant as parents as to what we allow into our homes via technology. The kind of sin we want our children to abhor and avoid, we cannot place in front of their children because we found the overall theme of a show enjoyable or "not that bad". This kind of behavior is extremely dangerous and is not being separate from the world and fleeing its lusts, as we are commanded to do in Scripture. It should be without question that we avoid being entertained by what is evil and hurtful to the Lord. Why should we take pleasure in, and teach our children to take pleasure in, that which God hates? A lot of today’s shows are made by people with an agenda--an agenda that is opposed to God and His Word. The enemy seeks to soften our stance against what is sinful. And gradually, his plan is working. We are being lulled to sleep and into complacency by what we have allowed before our eyes and ears.
Even if a show or program seems "innocent" and does not contain bad words, sexual content, or other glaringly obvious things we would not want our children to see, why are we teaching our children to sit passively by in front of a screen for hours of the day? The same is true with video games (when left unchecked and unmonitored ) can become highly addictive and can take our children into another world instead teaching them to live in reality. If we grow these appetites in our children when they are young, be sure they will follow them into adulthood, unless the grace of the Lord Jesus pulls them out from that time-wasting grasp. You may find you have grown a son into a "man" who comes home from a job he has barely made the day through (because he has no appetite for work and zero work ethic), to come home and sit in front of a screen or a console to find his entertainment through videos or games instead of spending quality time with his wife and children, leading them in the ways of the Lord. Many young men today have no desire to marry because for years, their parents have fostered in them an appetite for pleasure and entertainment, instead of teaching them what God's calling is on their lives.
There are many other unhealthy appetites we can foster in our children, which is why we need to prayerfully and seriously consider all of our children's lives. In girls, we can falsely foster a consuming desire for fashion or beauty instead of the inward beauty that God finds so awww precious. Or We may give our children an unhealthy appetite for sports, which consumes many grown men until their dying day.
We need to remember that our children will one day be adults, and we need to be fostering those things in their lives that will encourage them toward a godly, Christ-centered adulthood. All things, we must think of carefully, because we've been loaned these children by the Lord, to grow up for His purposes.
--author’s name unknown
Wow! Definitely something to think about as parents… I want to raise Godly ”adults”…
I heard this little story once—a father had three wonderful, polite, obedient older children that were blossoming into young adulthood. All of them were very Godly and already well on their way to being successful in life. Someone took notice of these kids and asked the father what the secret to raising Godly, successful kids was—the father replied, “That is the key, I didn’t raise kids. I raised adults. Every choice and decision I made with my kids I looked down the road to see how it would affect them as adults. Because I was trying to raise Godly adults, they became good kids as a result.”
-Tiphanie ❤️