How prepared is your child for what lies ahead? How well have you trained them for the storms that are sure to come? Recently, I asked kids of varying ages if they could tell me something that their parents had taught them about life. I received the following answers: Be nice, Stay out of trouble, Take up for myself, Don’t do drama, Live life to the fullest because it’s short, Don’t steal, and I really don’t remember. Although the above responses are good ones… except the, “I don’t remember one,” they do very little to give children the survival skills they need to be happy, productive, and successful in life.
When a baby is born, it senses your love through touch, tone of voice, and how quickly you meet its needs/desires. By introducing Christian songs, books, and rhymes, even an infant will associate these words with love and eventually God. It causes them to feel peace, comfort and protection. As the baby grows into a toddler, they learn the words and meanings to the songs, books, and rhymes. This is the stage where the actual promises of the Bible can become part of their vocabulary and understanding. This may sound like obvious advice to parents. However, you could not imagine how many parents do not take the time to begin instilling God’s word early on.
One of the hardest things for a parent who adores their child to do is to insure that when they say no it means no. This is the beginning of learning that there are definite boundaries. Some adults are still convinced that this isn’t true…you’ll find them in jail. Yes, God has boundaries too! Unfortunately, when children cross those boundaries, it is extremely important to teach consequences… consistent consequences. One of the main things teachers hear from students when they get into trouble is, “How can I earn my recess back?” The teachers reply, “You can’t earn it back. You have to pay the consequences.” As you can imagine, many older children today do not understand this concept or respect it because they have no consequences at home.
How many times have you heard, “We’re good people, we just don’t go to church.” When church isn’t important to the parent, the child sees it as unimportant. There are several different reasons to raise a child in church. The number one reason to take your children to church is that God said to do it. Other valuable reasons are because it gives your children a network of people who will teach them God’s word, pray for them, witness to them, fellowship with them, and love them for life! In addition, church allows your child to gain Christian peers who will eventually help them to make the right decisions in life outside of church. In short, When your child sees that church is important to you, it becomes important to them.
Most importantly, teach your children to have a relationship with Christ. Let them know that Christ loves them even more than you do. Remind them he loved them enough to die a cruel death on the cross for them. They need to understand that the very first person that they should run to when a problem arises is Christ! Don’t forget to let them see you doing that also!
I am so thankful that I was not raised in today’s society. Children/students are put at odds with each other over beauty, grades, scholarships, status, vehicles, popularity, and boyfriends/girlfriends. They feel the constant need to be the best at everything. Stress, even depression has the potential of raising their ugly heads. Alleviate all the headaches and competition from your child by reminding them that God gives everyone a chance. Their time WILL come for the blessings he has for them. They don’t have to be desperate and try to take matters in their own hands by sharing filthy photos for attention, buying things they can’t afford, or lying to get an advantage. All they need to do is pray and trust that God wants his best for them and he is already in motion to take them there. They simply have to have patience and believe.
God is faithful…always! From the moment you place your newborn in the cradle, to when you guide them to the cross, never give them reason to doubt in the power of the love of God!
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
