CARING FOR YOUR CHILDREN ON GOD’S BEHALF.

_{^{“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”.}}

Proverbs 22:6

That is one of the most quoted and misquoted verses of the Holy Bible. Different respectable Bible scholars have given it different convincing interpretations.

One popular interpretation suggests that if you raise your children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) they’ll ALWAYS stay on the right path. We know that this is not the case all the time. Children may grow and exercise their God given free wills in all kinds of ways.

Another popular interpretation suggests that the verse is referring to the need to help the child identify their gifts and talents early enough to enable them discover their purpose and God intended path in life.

What seems clear though is that this verse is a command or demand from the Lord which requires an active response from the parents. It is one of the many invitations to Stewardship which God gives His people.

As God’s stewards we are privileged to be invited to participate in His business. Our children belong to God but He wants the parents to partner with Him in raising them up. It’s more like you being given the job to be your own child’s carer and yet be rewarded for doing it. This kind of arrangement happens in developed countries like the UK where parents of children with learning difficulties are paid a salary by the State to care for them. Interesting but true.

Children are like sponges

Let’s look at another scripture.

^{_{“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”.}}

Matthew 5:16

In this verse is implied positive effects upon others who observe the way we do life God’s way. They are attracted and usually decide to turn to the God we believe in. Among the people who get attracted or influenced by our Godly lives are our own children. They inevitably begin to form opinions at an early age about rights and wrongs. They usually believe at an early age that Dad or Mum is right about many issues. So, in a way like a sponge they begin to absorb our ways. This tends to remain with them forever. It is also true that if they observe negativity in the home then they are most likely to accept it as the norm. The question is what are you displaying before your children? Unfortunately, our Savior warned us that in the last days: “Iniquity will abound and the love of many will wax cold”. As much as we try our best to positively influence our children, we know for a fact that many of them are being bombarded by negative forces of all sorts. This explains why many of them tend to fall by the way side seemingly forgetting the first love they had for God and Godly principles. The most devastating effect of this is to make the parents to feel they are total failures themselves. Many of them give up on their children and throw in the towel. Just like saying to God – ‘sorry I am not fit to be your steward over this impossible complicated child – I give up’.

My main purpose in this article is to encourage you not to give up. You have all heard testimonies of lives totally transformed because of some praying mother, father or grandparents. If you were a truly God-fearing parent at the time you were raising your children, I believe the light they saw in you will overcome whatever darkness they may have encountered along the way. Light is surely stronger than darkness. It’s only a matter of time.

The story of Monica and St Augustine

Monica is a well-known woman in Church history. She was an African Christian who lived in the 4th century in North Africa and later in Italy. She is remembered as a wife and mother who relentlessly prayed for the transformation of her family members – notably her abusive unfaithful husband Patricius, and her wayward promiscuous son Augustine. They both got converted to Christianity – the husband just before he died, and Augustine at the age of 25 after fathering a child out of wedlock. At some point a fellow Christian had encouraged Monica saying to her: “A son of many prayers cannot be lost” – implying the need to pray persistently despite the son’s negative lifestyle. Augustine got converted in Rome where he had gone to study Rhetoric. He became a Bishop in North Africa and was one of the most influential early Church fathers who vehemently defended the Christian faith. In his book ‘Confessions’ he describes his mother as a true servant of God who:

“brought me to birth both in her body, so that I was brought into the light of time, and in her heart so that I was born into the light of eternity”.

There isn’t enough space to write more here about St Monica and her son St Augustine of Hippo. I encourage you to Google and do more research on them and be blessed.

My wife’s house plants.

My wife developed an interest in house plants and now our living room is like a mini forest. She has an interesting story about one of the plants. It had grown very tall almost touching the roof of the house. She says she then decided to cut it off from the stem close to the root and took the pot outside in the balcony where she has other plants. Abandoned it to die from the roots. Few weeks later she saw the plant coming back to life again. Remember it had not been uprooted. She begun watering and nurturing that same plant – which she fondly welcomed back into the house. It is already getting tall again. She has a scripture she quotes every time she thinks about that plant.

^{_{“At least there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, it will sprout again and it’s new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant”.}}

Job 14:7-9

I also have a favorite scripture relevant to the message of this article.

^{_{“ For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion”.}}

Ecclesiastes 9:4

I asked my wife if she repented or apologised to the plant for giving up on it and she said she did.

My Brothers and Sisters some of you have felt extremely weary doing your best trying to guide your children uprightly. I encourage you to recall the moments when you had a dream of your child being established in the perfect will and purposes of God. Remember the day you gave in and threw the towel? Please go back to that day in your mind and repent before God and ask Him to restore your authority and STEWARDSHIP over your child. Our own children – now in their 30s were all dedicated to God as infants – so technically they don’t belong to us as their parents anymore. They belong to God just the same way Hannah gave her son Samuel over to God – forever. So even today whatever challenges we see in our children we remind God that they are His. Let’s fight for our children. We shall RECOVER ALL.

^{_{“For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him”.}}

2 Chronicles 30:9

Hezekiah, a God-fearing king mobilised his people to RETURN TO THE LORD. He assured them that God would help them by causing the enemies who had taken their children captive to let them go free. We can claim this promise. However, we as parents are the ones to begin by changing our own ways. We do this by turning or returning to God. Turning to God if you have not had a genuine relationship with Him, or returning to Him if you faltered along the way, became lukewarm or even backslid. You may need even in humility to repent to the child you had given up on. Do your part and God will do the impossible. Saint Augustine testified that it was his mother Monica’s piety, persistent prayer for him, and her love and compassion towards disadvantaged people that touched him and led to his conversion. Will your child testify something similar to that about you? Or will they enter eternity feeling abandoned and rejected? Remember there is hope for a cut tree as for a little squiggly dog which is still alive – unlike a giant dead lion. In fact, it is reported that Monica at one point received a prophetic word confirming that God would touch and save Augustine. This encouraged her even more not to lose hope. Go back and revisit the prophecies or assurances you received from the Lord concerning your child.

NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR CHILD – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.