Parenting In The Midst Of Intertechnological And World Wide Epidemics
Parenting In The Midst Of Intertechnological And World Wide Epidemics
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and my fellow parents. It's a great opportunity that God has given me to write about parenting. One thing that I understood is there is no amount of perfection you can attain in parenting because your children are wired differently. If there are three siblings, you will experience different sets of emotional traits, habits, behavioral changes, acceptance, capabilities, and talents. You see, they are all different.
Parenting our children provides countless opportunities to ensure that you are raising your children in the way God expects us to. If we are curious enough to discover a child's ability, then we can aid in shaping the minds and hearts of our children to love God with all their hearts.
I read a book called "Children Learn What They Live" by Dorothy Law, and she says:
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn to live with a goal.
If they live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If they live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If they live with kindness and consideration, they learn to respect.
If they live with the love of God, they learn to love others in return.
The moment I read these lines, it rang a bell in my mind. There are times all of us have gone through hypocrisy at one point or another. God expects us to be holy, acceptable, and submissive to his will. We should be patient to listen to his voice; he wants us to live a godly and truthful life.
Children are like sponges; they will absorb anything and everything that comes their way. There are times when I had to take a break from certain areas of my life just to focus on my parenting. This is when I realized that there are critical areas that God is still teaching and correcting me to come into terms with his will.
The sole purpose of God giving us children is for us to learn the concept of parenting and in turn mend our ways, thereby leading a successful parenting life with our children. It is a whole teamwork of both you and your children. Now, when we connect to our Christian life, we need to set principles and also set boundaries. How do we unite the principles of parenting in our Christian life in this era?
Although we are parents who are busy with church activities, gatherings, jobs, teaching our children, home chores, in all this, the most central and basic idea is loving God and further leading our children to love others, making them disciples of Christ, preparing them to have a heart of patience that waits on the voice of the Lord. We will experience a multitude of challenges from them, yet do not give up hope. Let our children find trust in us as a parent, even when there will be times when you make a mistake. Will you be willing to say the golden words, "I am sorry, will you forgive me?" to our own children? This, in turn, will translate a complete realm of God in their life, and once they see the transformation happening in you, they will learn to heed to the voice of the Lord in patience and everyone.
Jesus himself died on the cross for us and showed us forgiveness; he lived and preached with humility, kindness, and even sacrificed himself for us. Let us follow the same pattern in us and learn to be the real us. There is a tendency in most parents to enact perfection even though there is none, but are we willing to be the same self and trust God in all our ways, no matter what happens? How we practically live our life is the most important thing in this era. Duplicity is something God does not like; he wants you to be the real you, and it's ok if you want to take off time from social media; you still need to work out on your real self. Sometimes it's even hard accepting the fact that you are not your real self. Until God gave us children, I'm sure we all didn't understand how much mending we needed as adults. Once we come in terms with our real self, you will not believe the situation and atmosphere changing. This, to me, is the most important critical area we need to work on as a parent. God is working on us the same way; let us also work on our children too.
The Bible says in Proverbs 29:17, "Discipline your children, and they will give you peace. They will bring you the delights you desire."
May the Lord bless you to be the parent he desires. Let us wield to his perfect will. Happy parenting and raising sons and daughters who follow the heart of God.
To be continued....