Parenting

As a mother of three adult children, I know that parenting can be a daunting task, trust me! But as parents, whether we are married, widowed, divorced or single, we are the custodians of God’s heritage - our children - and we are accountable to Him for them. We need help to bring them up, and what better place to look for help than in the Holy Bible, from where we can get lessons in parenting. 

Let us start with Hannah and Elkanah who dedicated their son, Samuel, to serve in the temple. God began speaking to the young Samuel at a very early age. He later became a prophet and judge in Israel and was credited as being wise in his judgments (1 Samuel 1-3). Likewise, we should dedicate our children to God and help them find their purpose in life. 

The Apostle Paul credited his disciple Timothy’s faith to his grandmother Lois, and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5). As parents we can show our faith to our children by trusting in God, and praying that they and their children will have the same faith and trust in God. 

Manoah, Samson’s father, asked the Angel of the Lord, who brought them the news about Samson’s birth, to teach them how they were to bring him up (Judges 13:8). It is important for us to know how to bring our children up because parenting is not one-size-fits-all. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can train our children in God’s way, and when they are older, these ways will still be in them, even though they may deviate from them for a while. 

The atmosphere in our homes is important in the up-bringing of our children. We should try to provide them with a safe place to call home—where every family member feels loved, respected, honoured, and where they long to come to. Therefore, we have a responsibility to keep all relationships in the home healthy by loving, trusting, and forgiving one another, praying with and for one another, supporting, and paying attention to how we treat one another. In Philippians 2:3–4, we read: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” In James 1:19, we read: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” 

As parents we become the role models of our children because they copy what they see us doing, picking up our habits, both good and bad. Therefore, we must be models of good followers of Jesus to them, if we want them to follow Jesus. We should expose them to the gospel at an early age by reading the Holy Bible to them, and praying with them. We should take them to church and Sunday school, and encourage them to participate in church activities. We should introduce them to Jesus Christ as their Saviour and pray for their salvation, noting that salvation is not inherited, and that each person will give an account to God of themselves (Romans 14:12). We should teach them to love and honour God, and give of their time, talent, and finances to the work of God. 

We should discipline them as appropriate. As much as possible, we should also develop relationships with each of our children in an atmosphere of trust, so they can come to us with their concerns without fear of being frustrated, judged, condemned, or put under undue pressure. We should look diligently into the influences they have around them, especially friends and social media, making sure they are godly influences. We should teach them values that will help them in life and prepare them to become responsible citizens of both the earthly and heavenly kingdoms. 

Being parents does not exempt us from sometimes falling short of ours or God’s expectation, but God will forgive us if we repent, even though we may have to face the consequences of our actions.

While children have the commandment to obey and honour their parents, with the promise of long life attached to it (Ephesians 6:1–3), the honour of parents is when our children live godly lives and their lives bear fruit to show for it. 

Let us build strong families that honour God, and are examples to the world.