Do we speak to our children about their eternal salvation? I am sure most parents talk to their children about Jesus but how many of us live the Christian life that backs up what we say?
I am reminded of the funny story of a child that had just attended the christening of his baby brother in church. After the service this young boy sobbed all the way home to which his father asked him what was wrong. The boy replied, ‘The preacher said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.’
I know this is only a fabricated story however it has volumes of truth in it. How many of our children and grandchildren are listening to our words and then watching how we act.
We definitely need to encourage our children, take them to church, counsel them in good versus evil, but we also need to be the good example for them to follow. They will realize when we talk a good game but deliver a different story through our actions. We need to heed what we are taught in Deuteronomy 6:7-9. We need to love God and be a godly example by committing ourselves to His commands. We need to teach our children to do the same. As parents we need to teach our children the truth about God’s Word.
Our worshipping of God should be constant and not reserved for Sunday mornings. They should see us in our roles as husband and wife mutually respecting and being submissive to each other. Our children should view us as leaders and observe our leadership skills as those given to us through God’s Word.
Not only are our children seeing us in our daily activities and what we are participating in but they are aware of our discipline we are giving them. We need to understand that children who grow up in undisciplined homes are made to feel unwanted and unworthy. They lack direction, self-control, and the older they get they are more likely to rebel against authority and show little respect for it. We are told in Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
Our discipline and instruction of our children needs to be balanced with love so they will not grow up with resentment and discouragement.
Even though I am no expert in the field of parenting and raising children my wife and I have thoroughly been blessed through our four children and now ten grandchildren. Each time I had to discipline a child of mind I was very careful to talk with them about the problem, then punish them, and then talk with them again about the situation. My adult children, some years later, have told me that my talking with them had more effect on them than the spanking itself, even though the spanking drove home the point. I am hoping that they are talking with their children also and explaining the nature of the discipline.
As a good parent I firmly believe that good conversations with your children will make them very productive adults in this modern day world. Talking to them about Jesus and His death on the cross will provide them eternal life if they will accept Him and live by His Word. If you take your children to church, instead of sending them to church, will be more beneficial to them by your example.
Being a good parent and talking with your children about Jesus and conditions of the world will provide them motivation and encouragement to do the right things. It is never too late to start if you haven’t already. Remember what C.S. Lewis said, “You can’t go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
GARY ANDREWS' devotional appears each week on the Church Pages of your Clarksdale Press Register. You can contact him at GARY@gadevotionals.com
