Children of My Youth

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them (Psalms 127:4-5 NKJV).

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NKJV).

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV).

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training [nurture, KJV] and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV).

At least three conclusions follow from these texts:
1. Children are a blessing.
2. Children are a responsibility.
3. Child rearing carries consequences.

All of God’s blessings carry the responsibility of proper stewardship. Reference the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. The blessing of children carries an immense responsibility. Any help I can get that helps me be a better parent, I really appreciate. I trust you feel the same way. The following thoughts are offered with this principle in mind: I want to be the best parent I can possibly be.

Credentials

The essential credential is that the suggestions that follow be totally based on the Bible. They are, as you will see.

This second credential also carries significant weight to me. I guess a poor carpenter, who built houses that usually collapsed before they were very old, still might have something helpful to say about carpentry, perhaps - how not to do it. If he were to quote from a recognized and accepted text on carpentry, certainly those quotes would be in order. But, the way he applied the principles of a good carpentry text to his houses, would be highly suspect to me, since he had not been successful as a home builder.

You humble author has raised three kids who are now in their twenties. One is less than a year from thirty. This child rearing project has been a joint venture with my fine Christian wife of thirty-three years. It has primarily been a triune effort between the two of us and God, with the leadership of the Heavenly Father being acknowledged. With the Bible as our guide and God as the Senior Partner, three children have been successfully brought from the womb to adulthood. All three are faithful Christians. They are popular and successful. Both sexes are covered, and, if no two kids are alike, well, we had three. I will believe till I die that what worked in our home, will work in any home. I do not propose to be some kind of guru. But, if you do what the Bible says – you’ll get good results.

A final caveat before addressing the meat of this subject further: I never had a great deal of respect for someone whose own kids were ruffians, trying to tell me how to raise mine. Maybe he should have been telling me how not to raise mine. Unless he was directly quoting the Bible, or, perhaps, saying where he had messed up, I didn’t pay much attention. I suggest you do the same. I’m not that guy.

We’ll get down to specifics in future posts.

Read your Bible.

Do what it says.