Catch Them, Young:(Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he’ll not depart from it-Proverbs 22:6)
Mrs James strolled into the living room and met five-year-old Matt, with a console in his hand. He was playing a video game. It was all about racing cars. he was so engrossed in the activity that he didn’t hear his mother come in.
“Shit,” he muttered as his car hit an oncoming vehicle.
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His mother was shocked and wanted to rebuke him immediately but her inner man told her to be calm. She continued watching him in silence as he started another race. Halfway through the race, he crashed again, this time he tried to dodge a truck and hit a car by his side.
“God dammit,” he shouted, throwing the console across the room. Then he stood up and balled his right hand into a fist and hit it against his left palm”.Then, Mrs James knew where she’d gone wrong. She cleared her throat behind him, startling Matt.
“Wao mum!” he exclaimed. ” What the hell are you doing in here?” he asked, still surprised at finding his mother in the living room when he was so sure he didn’t hear her come in. “Watch your language young man,” she admonished him.
Many of us parents have one time of the other found ourselves in Mrs James situation. Many people around us whether they be friends, the family have opinions about what age we should correct our children when they misbehave or exhibit certain behaviours.
Some say ” Aha, small small now, she’s a baby”, or ” He doesn’t know anything now when he reaches three or four years of age, he’ll understand.” The truth is, a baby’s brain is like a fresh page, anything written on it will be imprinted. They can hear, see what we wouldn’t even think they would.
Right from the womb, the baby responds to sound. the only thing is they can’t say what we’d understand.
Proverbs13:24, explains that if you hate your child if you spare him i.e if you don’t correct him when he does wrong because you feel he’s too young.
If you fail to restrain your child from doing evil, or being wayward, especially when they are young and tender, you will definitely reap the bitter fruit of your negligence when they grow up.
Proverbs 23:13, tells us that we should always correct and rebuke them when they are wrong because correcting a child with a cane will not kill him but rather deliver him from hell and destruction.
Your children will become what you’ve raised them to be. Don’t think you can get away with bad choices in your children’s upbringing even if you don’t see the immediate repercussion. Be diligent and prayerful in nurturing your children in the way of the Lord, because you will reap what you sow.
Many parents fail in their responsibility because they don’t know what parenting entails. Literally, parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood.
But in God’s economy, emphasised it’s much more than that. It is raising a child in a godly way(Ephesians 6:4). This means that promoting and supporting a child’s spiritual development should be part of, and emphasised the aspect of parenting.
Don’t gloss over your children’s misconduct instead of correcting them immediately, and allow them to have their way all the time because they are little children. This is the excuse most parents give while indulging their children.
They erroneously believe the children will outgrow their unruly behaviour, neglecting the spiritual injunction,” Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it from him”(proverb 22:15).
In conclusion, if you truly love your kids, you’ll do everything, including chastening them when they do wrong, in order to keep them on the right path and save their souls. Even God, the greatest parent says “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten”(Revelation 3:19).
WATCHWORD—“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”(Proverbs 19:18)
Prayer
1. Oh Lord, help me to be a good caretaker of the children you have given me in Jesus name
2. Every spirit of rebellion in the lives of my children, I cast you out in the name of Jesus.
