Child-Upbringing

I promised to post four points in child-upbringing and here are they:

1. Lead your child to the Lord. Teach him to know God and to develop a love relationship with Him. This will lead him through life even when every other thing has failed. The greatest inheritance you can keep for your child is a rich relationship with God. Not insurance nor money. That was what the Patriarchs kept for their children. A friend of mine who is a medical doctor was sharing with me and my wife yesterday; he said that he is not worried about his children. Not because he has millions in his bank account but because he knows that God will take care of them. His own father died when he was four years old and yet he and his siblings are well to do today. More so, his children have better foundation than he had. Let your children learn to put their trust in God. Knowing God helps your child develop godly principles for living. It cultivates his values and perspectives about life. When last did you challenge your 3-5 year old child whether he has given his/her to the Lord Jesus Christ? Never assume they know the Lord just because they participate in family prayers. They must be led to the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Teach your child to love knowledge. This will help him face the challenges and seeming competitions in life. It creates in him the desire to excel. What propels people in life are desire and dreams and these things can be nurtured in the young mind of a child.
3. Teach him to love hard work. Today a lot of young people hate hard work. They aim high but don’t want to work hard. This has led to all kinds of compromises, vices and delinquencies. The recent wind of 'prosperity preaching' are not helping matters at all. If your child knows that he has to work hard in life so as to become all that God wants him to be, he will excel in all that he does.
4. Practice what you teach them. Let them see the principles you are teaching them being lived out practically by you. They will believe it is possible. Let them see that you love the Lord. Let them see how you love your spouse (Who is their parent also). Let them see that you love your family and other people. It grooms them for their own family. Let them see that you help the needy and not covetous or married to your wealth. Even when they are led astray, your life will become a good challenge to them and a key to their restoration.

I believe that these are not exhaustive but they form the foundation for raising children that will have good success in life, even if God calls you home in the middle of their days.

A Victorious Christian Family

Any family that wants to be victorious has a few things to pay attention to:

Grow together in their relationship with the Lord. This is the basis for good success in marriage. One who is more spiritual works hard to impact the other. The husband/father leads.

Recognizes that family life is spiritual warfare and are ready to fight it. They recognize that the devil fights every institution God has instituted and they are ready to work hard for their marriage to work. The worst thing you can do to yourself is to think that your partner is a mistake. You are as compatible as you can be.

Overcomes the petty problems of marriage and are ready to walk in victory. When a family allows accusations like, “you don’t love me anymore” to cause serious problems in the family, it’s because they have lost focus on victory.

Learn the proper management of the finances and blessings God brings their way and wisdom to use them to God’s glory. Wealth and money never satisfy. Prosperity is not just the amount of money you have but the kind of heart and mentality you have toward the issues of this life. A victorious family has learnt how to live in God’s abundance in whatever state they are in.

Have discovered God’s purpose for their family and are fulfilling it. For every union, there is a unique ministry (Caring, Praise & Worship, Teaching, Writing, Counseling, Pastoral, etc). This becomes one of the bases for joy and happiness. Without it, you will always get engulfed and distracted by the petty problems of marriage. These petty problems can actually grow so big that the marriage relationship is threatened; however, the sole cause is because the family has no vocation, cause or ministry they are engaged and committed to.

Stands together in spiritual warfare and do not give a place to the devil. Headless families are the ones where the husband/father of the family is not at hand to lead in the spiritual progress of the family.

Each individual takes his/her proper place and fulfills his/her role. Everyone understands that his/her is very important to the success of the family. No one is over laboured spiritually, physically and emotionally. All hands are on deck as it concerns domestic cores, child-upbringing, finances etc.

Raises their children in the nurture and fear of the Lord so they don’t become a curse and a disgrace to the Name of the Lord but a blessing. Children must be helped in these four areas:

• Develop spiritual values.
• Teach them moral values. Let the child know that there are consequences for every kind of living. You reap whatever you sow. Let them learn to take responsibilities in their little way and be able to develop moral judgment from where wisdom fro choice making will evolve.
• Teach them economic values. The fact that you can afford it does not mean that they deserve it. They should know that you don’t always get whatever you want in life.
• Teach them good habits. Habits are easy to form but very difficult to break. Let them know how to make right decisions. Teach them prudence, respect and accountability. When they grow up, they will not leave it.

In my next posting, I’ll give us a list of four points in child upbringing. Remain blessed!