Jim, a teenager, was trying to figure out a way to get his Dad to borrow him the car. He took out a bible and said to his father, “Dad, the Bible says if you don’t let me have the car, you hate me.”
The father was a bit amused and was up to his sons ways but asked anyway, “Where does
it say that?” Jim opened to Proverbs 13:24 and read,
“He who spares the rod hates his son” (Proverbs 13:24)
God describes our creation as His Masterpiece (Psalm 139 / Ephesians 2:10). Sometimes we see this wonderful masterpiece in our children and dream of a grand and glorious life we imagine for them. We try our best to be good parents and give biblical guidance setting boundaries and try to impart discipline. Yet, it is never very long before we are brought back to earth as we see how much a work in progress our children are (and we are). Frankly, there are days when our Masterpieces sometimes look more like works from Picasso (abstract and fuzzy … it takes a trained eye to see the Masterpiece).
Parenting is never easy and sometimes not all that rewarding. Yet this is where parents and grandparents and church need to be a continual ongoing presence and influence. You might be past your child raising years, but there is every reason for you to be involved and engaged in the raising (influence) of a child. Remember, the way a child is raised and taught and given example is generally the way that they will live and the way they live impacts everybody. Our Lord has given us all the charge, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) What a simple common sense principle our Lord gives us which works both in a positive and negative way. Negatively, if our kids are raised without respect they will live accordingly and not respect you. If our children are not shown love and raised in grace, they will not know how to love and be gracious themselves. If our child is shown intolerance and given angry rebuke they will believe in intolerance and will know only to react in anger. If they are raised without biblical morals, they will not know how to live as God created them to live in the fullness and will perpetuate a world of declining morals. Yet, thankfully God’s Word to “Train a child in the way he should go” works in a way that brings goodness and grace and godliness to a child. If a child is raised in an environment of love and acceptance, they will tend to embrace these qualities for themselves. If they are brought to Jesus and taught about Him and come to believe and place their faith in Him, then they will live under the fruit of the spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, kindness, gentleness and goodness. What a beautiful person they become! Let us be mindful and faithful in this grand task of training and influencing our child in the way he should go – for our example matters.
Pastor Mark
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