4 Principles for raising godly children
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs chapter 22 verses 6)
1. The principle of bringing them up in the Lord:
It is the parents responsibility to bring up the children in the way of the Lord. You don’t bring up the children in the way of the Lord because you like them, that sound great but let it be from an act of responsibility. Whether we like them or not, it is a responsibility bestowed upon the parents to raised their children right. Any parents that failed in this very responsibility is tagged as a failure in parenting children.
“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians chapter 6 verses 4)
You must acknowledge what you are investing in and put in your best effort in raising your children in the way of the Lord. What your children eventually become should reflect you. They are the true ambassador of your family. If they are raised right, they will be a good representative of your family. If they are raised wrong, they will bring pains and reproach to your family. Teach your children to fear the Lord and serve Him.
2. The principle to cultivating the right environment for them:
There is a right environment we have to create for our drive through our children to turn out well. The environment you create for your children will determine how they will turn out in future and how they will be able to withstand the peer pressure. The environment of prayer and worship we create for our children will create an indelible mark in their heart to live right even when the storms of lives hit. The family that pray together, stays together.
Your environment programmes your children more than you can ever do. The children they associate with matters alot in their up bringing to determine how they will turn out. For instance, the community your children live in and the schools they attend have more of an influence over them than even their parents. Hence, you must make efforts to control and condition their environment. This also includes the company they keep and their constant acquaintances.
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” (Proverbs chapter 13 verses 20)
3. The principle to focusing your training:
6 – “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 – And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 – And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” (Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 to 8)
Every parents has to develop a routine to focus on the training of their children. It should be a deliberate act for the right turn out of your children. What measures are you putting down for the right up bringing of your children. We should not delicate such responsibility to the church and school teachers alone. The success of the children turn out depends on you.
Every productive training requires a repeated sequence of actions which, when left alone, would be continued due to the presence of systems. This is so important because systems are often more powerful than persons.
17 – “O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
18 – Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” (Psalms chapter 71 verses 17 to 18)
4. The principle to modelling agape love and mutual respect in their presence:
This is especially important with respect to your relationship with your spouse because the examples your children consistently see can either make or mar them. Children at their development stage are more of what they see. They grow to become what they see. You can’t take that away from them that is the reason every couples need to be careful the way we act in the presence of the children.
22 – “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 – For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 – Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 – Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 – That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 – That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 – So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 – For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 – For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 – For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 – This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 – Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22 to 33)
Building a nation with Moral Integrity and Moral Values can only be accomplished by the Standards of God in order for every generation to stand firmly.
19 – “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 – But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21 – If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2Timothy chapter 2 verses 19 to 21)
Conclusion:
There are no shortcuts or quick fixes in the pursuit of this solemn project. This can only be achieved through intentional and responsible parenting in our families. The strength of any nation is solely dependent on the strength of its Family structure hence we have a divine duty as Christian believers to become intentional in our daily parenting.
