Monday 21 May 2018

Homemaking Mondays: Loving Your Children



Welcome to Homemaking Mondays! 

Today I'd like to share a bit about loving your children.  

Now culture and modern society and pshycology have much to say about loving your children, but what does the Bible say?  To a believer this is most important!  

Loving our children goes far deeper then snuggles and kisses! Although those are important to.

Psalm 127:3

Children are a special blessing and we are to take their lives seriously and be serious about raising them.  Caring for not only their physical needs, but also their emotional and spiritual needs as well. Now all of this takes a great deal of our time and energy...do not despise this.  It all has it's place in our lives and homes.  In a world where the "me monster" reigns, we need to remember to sacrificially serve our families, and that includes taking the needed time with our children.

Loving our children by raising them up to know the Lord and His Truth.

Proverbs 22:6
Proverbs 54:13
2 Timothy 3:14-17

As we see in the scriptures above we are to train our children.  
This is an active role, it means time, it means commitment, it means love in action.
Webster's Dictionary states this: To train or train up, to educate; to teach; to form by instruction or practice; to bring up.
The children will be taught of the Lord.  For this to happen, we need to make the Bible available to them...read to them, teach our children to read, and then they can read and learn for themselves.  People think that they can just take their kids to some church and sunday school and that will do it.  But you can't find that in scripture...the parents are responsible to do this!  Not to mention that "go to church" isn't in the Bible, but that is another study.  Our children need to hear from God, and the only way that can happen is to give them God's word.
The big thing that jumps out at me is that once we've taught our children the things of the Lord it will continue with them into adulthood.  We must understand the gravity of this.. and it needs to start right away. "And that from a child...." Sharing God's word does't need to start just when they can read...we can quote scripture, sing scripture, and tell them about the goodness of the Lord from the moment they are born.  
Loving our children is sharing with them about the way of salvation according to the scriptures so that their souls may be saved!
With training, I think of all those things we teach them.  There is the regular things like eating, potty training, dressing, & cleaning up after themselves.  There are also thins like not to touch things that will hurt them, or go places that are dangerous.  Setting boundaries. 
We teach our children manners and how to treat each other.  How to talk to each other, take turns, be kind, be compassionate, and so on.  We need to get our guidelines from scripture. 
Part of training up our children is through discipline.  I know there is a huge array of opinion on this..but what does the scriptures say about this?
Proverbs 22:15
Proverbs 19:18
Proverbs 13:24
Proverbs 29:15
Discipline is not fun for the parent or the child...but must be done to teach them the right way. To leave them to themselves will only lead then away from righteousness and into error.  Some think that it's cute when children are mischievous or mouthy or just plain rebellious.  No, it is not! 
Proverbs 20:7
I love this verse, and it goes for both moms and dads.  We must be the examples for our children. They will see us, and will learn quickly what is required of them...if we require it of ourselves.  They are watching! 
1 Timothy 3:4
Having children in subjection is to have them obedient and not unruly.  Yes, children will be children...I know, BUT we need to be on top of things and make sure they are redirected appropriately.  We need to teach them self control and respect for authority.  If they won't obey us, how are we to think that someday they will be willing to obey God? 

So many of today's society believe in being "friends" with their kids...no, you need to be their parent.  Yes, you can have very close relationships with your kids, but above all you need to be the one to put your foot down an make them mind.  You need to teach them why and not just set out rules.  There is a purpose for your training and teaching, and they need to also know what they are working towards.  You as the parent are to be the one in control, not the child.  As they grow you can step back more and more as they mature.  
Colossians 3: 21
This goes for mothers to... we need to be considerate of how we go about our parenting.  We don't want to discourage them, and this often means being ever watchful not to place our children in situations where it will obviously lead to more then they can handle. It clearly states that children are to obey their parents in ALL things...not just the things they agree with.  Obedience is one of the greatest skills that they will learn.  Human pride in all it's gusto fights against this...it is foundational that they learn this at home in a loving environment, so that one day they will be willing to be obedient to God on their own....and seek God not their own will.  
All of this takes time, watchfulness, and prayer!  Loving our children is directing them in the paths of righteousness, of truth.
We need to pray for our children and seek the Lord's help as we love our children.
There is much that can be said on parenting...I'll share more in another post sometime.  But of utmost importance we need to know what God says on the matter.
I hope that some of what I've shared will be of benefit to you!

Love and Prayers,
Jennifer 

1 comment:

Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made said...

Jennifer -- you and I are definitely on the same page with all of this! I can tell you from experience (and things were not as tough for raising children as they are NOW!) but all of this is true! We can't be perfect parents but if we stick to what God's word says about raising our children, things will be much better all the way around. I think in today's world, it is SO much harder to be the parent God wants you to be. The world says to make our children the center of our universe, indulge them, tell them how great and beautiful they are . . . and yes, be their best buddy. And all we need to do is look around and see where THAT is getting us. Yes we need to encourage our children and affirm them and be their 'safe place' but most importantly we need to teach them the truths in God's Word! Thanks for sharing such beautiful insights!