4 And now a word to you parents. Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord Himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice. EPHESIANS 6 tlb
6 Encourage the young to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. TITUS 2
21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. COLOSSIANS 3
15 Has not the Lord made [husband and wife] one [body and one spirit]? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. MALACHI 2
1 A large family is nothing to be desired if the children are worthless. Godless children are nothing to be proud of. 2 No matter how many children you have, don’t look on them with pride unless they fear the Lord. 3 Don’t put much hope in their future or expect them to live a long time. One child who does the Lord’s will is better than a thousand who do not. It is better to go to your grave with no children at all than to have children who are godless. SIRACH 16
You need to mold your children in holiness, discipline and wisdom. If only for this reason, find time to be with them. Make it easy for them to be obedient. Give them direction. Fill them with love; also, with attention. Save them from disgracing themselves and profaning the Most Holy Name in the future. Develop consistency, steadfastness and reliability in them. Enable them to resist temptation like rock, to build and keep rock-solid love relationships.
Take cue from syndicated columnist Sydney J. Harris:
Some people are ‘rocks’ by nature or training, while others are papier-mâché painted to resemble rocks, who crumble when sudden pressure is applied by circumstances. Consistency is what is required in the people we associate with: the confident knowledge of what we can rightfully expect of them, barring sudden illness or catastrophe beyond anyone's control. Otherwise there is no real relationship, but only a shifting accommodation to the winds of caprice and self-indulgence. It is easy to feel affection for another; what is hard is to translate this feeling into acts, daily acts, that demonstrate steadfastness of purpose in a domestic routine that may not be as dramatic as some heroic rescue, but that keeps the craft afloat no matter which way the wind happens to blow.
The deepest and most important virtues are often the dullest ones; they win no medals, and get no glory; but they are the glue that binds society together and makes it work, now and always.[1]
Be in there body and soul to fill your children’s lack. The objective is to help them outgrow their situations, for both of you to be restored.
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. PROVERBS 29
John W. Ritenbaugh wrote in Guard The Truth!:
If a child is left to himself, where is his training coming from? Obviously, in this case, mom and dad are not having a great impact on their child. The training must then be coming from society, most likely from the child's peers. Because foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15), a child left to himself brings shame—he is bound to get into trouble if his training is haphazard or undirected, or if he is not drilled or disciplined. The flipside of this verse says, “But the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” The rod symbolizes that someone has taken an interest in the outcome of this child's life. He is giving direction, correction, instruction, to steer this child where he is to go. The training, the teaching, makes all the difference in the world.
An example from the life of David illustrates Proverbs 29:15. David had not rebuked his son Adonijah at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” David was very old and was very shortly to die. His family and his close advisors probably knew that he intended to pass his crown to Solomon. But Adonijah tried to prevent that. He made a political move to grab the throne before Solomon had a secure grip on it. His ploy failed because Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and David's faithful advisors appealed to the king, and he made it very clear whom he had chosen to succeed him.
David, though a man after God's own heart, did not take an active hand in teaching Adonijah. In this verse God states why Adonijah rebelled. In essence, David actually encouraged his son to rebel by not taking an interest in rearing him. David failed to train him in the way he should go, so that he would not depart from it. Instead, David trained him in a way that was bound to produce rebellion. This flaw of David shows up in others of his children: Absalom, Amnon, and others. It does not matter whether one is a child of God having His Spirit or not. If a parent does not carry through with the right kind of training, then the results will surface in his children.
6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it… 15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. PROVERBS 22
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road; when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. DEUTERONOMY 6
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