Daily devotional, 27 May 2024 Official Guide
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6
There is an official guide to almost everything in this world. Name an endeavor, an important machine, or a place, and most likely it comes with an official guide or manual. One thing though that does not have a manual or an official guide is parenting.
Every culture differs, every generation has its own ways. And while experienced parents can author books, grant interviews, come up with videos or podcasts, not everyone in the parenting sphere will seem to agree.
As followers of Jesus though, we can definitely count on the Bible as the ultimate guide to parenting our children. For instance, time and again, Deuteronomy Chapter six will be one of the key parenting must do’s that will help ground our children and train them in Christlikeness.
Of course, if the Ten Commandments apply to us, adults, we have to pass these on to the next generation. By taking to heart Deuteronomy chapter six, we get to educate our children just that. But of course we should not stop at sharing the Ten Commandments, we should also teach them God’s word, through the many stories found in both the old and the new testament.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Deuteronomy 6:5-8
Apart from personally educating them, we must also make sure that we bring them to where they will hear God’s truth — the Church. We should let them worship with us, we should allow them to go to Sunday School or Kids’ Church, encourage them to participate in church activities, and help them make friends and spend time with children of families who also seek God.
"Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 9:14
As for us moms, we can look at the Heavenly Father as the best inspiration on how we could conduct ourselves as parents. In Psalm 103, King David praised God as He described the grace and deliverance He has received from Him throughout his life. We can look at a snippet of the Psalm, specifically where God’s character is described, so that whatever grace we have received from the Lord we can pay it forward though parenting our children:
"He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."
Psalm 103:7-10
While we cannot be perfect parents, we can always use the passage above to try to be gracious, merciful, kind, and loving parents. For instance:
1. “He made known His ways..” — We can make sure that our children know our rules at home and how we want them to conduct themselves. We should be the first to follow biblical values, and model godly character unto them.
2. “The Lord is merciful and gracious” — We must be ready to forgive our children, and we must be more than willing to love them even when they act so unloveable.
3. “Slow to anger” — This is an extra challenge especially when the kids are acting up, when we are experiencing a personal crisis, when we are pressed for time, and when we are dead tired. However our good God remains slow to anger even when we do not deserve it. And so, we should extend the same to our children.
4. “Abounding in steadfast love” — Our children should be secure in our love. They should know that no matter what happens outside the home, they have a safe place in Jesus and in us. They can run to us when they are physically or emotionally hurt, and even if it is due to their own fault. They should know that our love is steadfast and that they can count on it no matter what.
5. “Will not always chide” — We should refrain from constantly rebuking our children and just seeing the wrong things that they do. Ephesians 6:4 says we should not exasperate our children, instead bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So instead of just seeing the negative side of our kids, we should bring them up in God’s teaching. We can also turn our focus on the positive, again as advised by St. Paul the Apostle: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
6. “Nor will he keep his anger forever” — If as Chrsitians we claim God’s promise to renew His mercies every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), we should likewise extend the same level of mercy to our children. We should learn to forgive them when they apologize, and we should forget about their mistakes once we have forgiven them.
7. “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” — As followers of Jesus, we can say that we have received so great a mercy considering the life of sinfulness that we all lived. We ought to pass on this level of mercy to our children while balancing the biblical discipline we are called to enforce as parents.
While the seven pointers above may seem like a tall order, especially for single parents who have to both work and provide parental nourishment, with faith these are all doable through the strength that our Lord provides. Let us tap on His strength and partner with Him in raising our children.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
By seeking Him every morning through our daily quiet time, bible reading and reflection, bible study with other believers, and attending Sunday church, we will have the strength to be the best parents God designed us to be.
We do not have to conform to the culture, ideals and pursuits of this fallen world. We should not just go with the flow and follow what other parents do just because it is popular and everybody else seems to do it. Let us raise our children in Jesus’ truth and likeness.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12:2
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 103:1-14 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: What guide do you turn to when making parenting decisions or going about raising your children?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for giving us your words, the Bible, to guide us through our parenting journey. Make me fully dependent on your teachings my Lord, so that I could raise godly children. Amen.
