PARENTING

Parenting is one of life's greatest privileges.God did not have to use you as a medium of bringing that child of yours into the world.There are many ways he could bring multiplication into this world but he chose to use me and you as channels of birthing his image.What greater privilege can we have?

However with this immeasurable privileges come inevitable responsibilities,this is why every couple must take seriously the issue of bringing up a child into this world.As soon as God blesses a couple with children,there is an automatic transformation that demands a great deal of responsibility to God and the society to ensure that the children are properly nurtured and cared for in the home till they are brought to adulthood. It is the process of practically nurturing and caring for children which includes -housing, clothing, feeding, physically and spiritually ,socialising, counselling, guiding, leading, mentoring, educating , protecting and so on,this adds up to balanced and responsible parenting.

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The bible commands parents (both father and mother) to faithfully take the following actions;

Love them:Titus 2:4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,Bring them to Christ through regular family devotion and fellowship with other believers of Christ.

Teach them Deuteronomy 6 vs 7 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.

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

Provide for them ..........2 Corinthians 12 vs 14 For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

Control/Rule them 1 Timothy 3 vs12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well

Bless them Hebrews 11 vs 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Pray for their spiritual welfare 1 Chronicles 29 vs 19 And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”

As a Parent,you are to lay down your life that they may see you as a model of Christ ,for them to follow.

What is the process of parenting?
The above list of responsibilities look tedious,yet it is possible to carry them out joyfully and successfully given the right attitude and diligence by the Grace of God.You need not to fret,however because God the initiator of marriage and family life is always faithful to direct and support as many as will follow his laid-down guidelines. The bonding between mother and child,though very essential for proper development of the child,should not be allowed to consume all the woman's time and affection o the detriment of her marriage.( I was once guilty of the above statement ; when i gave birth to my child i was using all my time on him i somehow neglected my husband although he understood but when i noticed it i quickly retraced my step so as not to damage my marriage,when your children grow up they will leave us and go and settle down with their new family leaving us with our husband,if you haven't had a good relationship with your spouse the person may find it difficult to cope when they are now alone in the house).Let us share our time properly with our spouse and children.

Obedience to God and submission to one another will bring about family unity and fulfillment.The rigours of life associated with raising a young family requires having sufficient daily supply of Grace and resources to mould the young lives into what God wants them to be.Know that what your children need is not a supernatural but dutiful parent.your own responsibility is to teach and nurture them in the way of the lord. The idea of giving them proper training is so that it may go with them till they are old.

The place of discipline cannot be overlooked in child training either.Yet, it is perhaps the most difficult thing for most parents to do because while some overdo it,others shy away from it.You cannot but discipline your child if the need arises.Discipline of the children is a joint effort and responsibility for which there should always be agreement between parents.Children's intelligence should never be underestimated, They know when parents are in the conflict and can easily take advantage of loopholes created by such situations to further widen the gaps in communication and cause havoc.If parents are not careful enough the home may eventually break-up. it is instructive for both parents to fully involved in all aspects of their children's training including spiritual, emotional, academic, physical, social, economic and educational.

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There are some profit of good parenting:
Parents who will diligently fulfill the responsibilities that come with this rare privilege stand to gain a lot. firstly the grace of God will be upon the children,they will wax strong in the spirit and wisdom will be upon them.Secondly They will also be sources of joy and channels of blessing to their parents..Thirdly ,they will find favour with God and man,your children also will be mightily used by God.

To get these gains and more,you must guard against those things that are capable of breaking up your home.The cost of broken homes is far too expensive for your children, the church and the society to pay.You will reap the bountiful rewards in diligent child training and more in eternity with other stewards at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave you the children to keep for him.If you are reading this writeup and you are trusting the Lord for the fruit of the womb,The Giver of Children that is God will give you your own children in Jesus name,Don't give up and keep trusting the Lord.