One of my lifelong goals in life is to #ParentByTheBook. It is in fact not something anyone can master in one day. As a matter of fact, some people don’t master the art of parenting until their children are adults, and even then, some still struggle. This message is NOT just for people who have given birth to children, it could be for uncles, aunts, god-parents, AWANA teachers, teachers of young students or just generally those who interact with children and have influence over their lives in some way at any given point in time.
While some might say: “I didn’t have the best parents, and they parented me with bible principles” and others may say: “I didn’t turn out the best and my parents taught me the bible”. I will add to all these things, that we are all “works in progress”, and none of us can say we are “well done” until we get to those “12 pearly gates” or “streets of gold like transparent glass”. Until then, we do the best we can with what we have and engage in a process of continual transformation in an effort to look more like Jesus every day!
It is no secret, I’m a believer, and my goal is to Follow Jesus all the days I get to live here on earth. Therefore it is appropriate that I would raise my children in this way. For instance: there are times I don’t want to watch something on television that may be filled with violence, lewdness, or sexual content, and guess what, I’m not going to leave the room so my children can watch it, if I’m not watching it.. we’re finding something else to watch! This is a by-product of living in a Christian home.
There are reasons behind why I aspire to “Parentbythebook” and I will give only 5 of them here in this blog for your consideration;
I aspire to “ParentByTheBook” because the bible taught me to do so. I see many stories where God specifically chooses men to lead their children after them to serve Him, and while we have many examples in the bible in the books of Kings, and Chronicles where there were parents who led by example and their children went completely AWOL, perhaps we saw the results of that example in their grandchild in those situations. It is not to say that our children will turn out “just perfect” if we lead them well. Enoch walked with God 300 years, yet all we hear about his son is Methusaleh lived the longest, living 969 yrs…. but the bible only says: “Then he died” … there was no legacy that he’d followed in the footsteps of his dad. We don’t set out to parent our children according to biblical principles and values because we want them to be perfect, we do it because we want to obey God’s word to us!
The second reason I aspire to “ParentByTheBook” is that this creates their belief systems, thereby determines their decisions. From the time I was pregnant with my children, I spoke the word of God to them, even while they were in my womb. And the first thing I did when I saw them here on earth was to pray over them, I covered their entire life in prayer, and began the journey of planting seeds in their hearts of God’s word that would hopefully take root to produce a harvest. We plant the word of God in the hearts of our children by constantly sitting it before them and allowing them the grace to understand it by explaining it to them daily. From the time my children started school, I would have “#minutesintheword” with them, as we walked to school, or drove, I would talk about the bible. Before then we’d have circle time, where I taught them from biblical viewpoints, and yes, I believe that this was in essence planting seeds in their hearts which would later determine their decisions even if not at that moment.
The third reason I endeavor to “ParentByTheBook” is that I want to take delight in them later. I do not want to be the parent called to come in to the school because my child is the violent one in the class who stole from another child, or physically abused someone. So, I teach them the values and principles of honoring and loving others, and leading others in a way that is honorable and filled with integrity. This is because when they become adults I want to take delight in telling the story that my children who are now adults have come to a position of honor with others because I prayed, and invested the time and energy to get them there.
Fourth reason I desire to “ParentByTheBook” is I realize Satan also is out to “steal, kill and destroy” them. They have a very real enemy out here in the world, and unless they are armed with truth, that is knowledge of the word of God, they have no choice at overcoming him! Satan is a very real and formidable enemy and his goal is for my children just as it was for those 2/3 of angels in heaven he took with him, to get them to turn from God and serve self. The reason I do my best to parent by the book is not only because God said so, but to arm them with truth necessary to overcome the “realest” enemy they have.
Finally, The reason I desire to “ParentByTheBook” that I will list here in this blog, and I grappled with many other things to put here, but I ultimately chose that they would fulfill their God-Given Purpose on earth.
If they have no knowledge of God’s way, or that they should pursue him for the reason he created them, nor understand he’s their created their sunk in the water before they start. The identity must come from the Lord, so purpose can only be found in him. Therefore I endeavor to teach my children that the only way they can have true satisfaction in life is to live a purpose driven life utilizing the gifts and talents God gave them for His glory!
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