RAISING GODLY CHILDREN

GOD'S COMMAND TO TRAIN CHILDREN


A commandment is a law or an order. So in case you previously thought child raising is an advice, a suggestion or a thing you do at your convenience, understand this: child training is a commandment! It is a must for you! It’s a commandment from God, not from man.
 

  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
 

  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children… Deut.6:6-7.
 

Remember, however, that God’s commandments are not grievous. My husband says His commandments are not to grieve you, but to groom you!
 

  …And his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3
 

A refusal to train your children in God’s fear is absolute disobedience to God’s commandment.
 

  …Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Sam.15:22.
 

In the same way failure to keep the ten commandments brings severe punishments on people from God, so does failure to raise up your children after God’s laid down pattern incur His anger and punishment.
 

One such punishment is shame. God allows the disobedient parent to experience shame because he failed to instruct his offspring in the ways of God. Marilyn Hickey, in her book, Break The Generation Curse told this story:
 

“Max Jukes was an atheist who married a godless woman. Some 560 descendants were traced:
 

Three hundred and ten died as paupers – 150 became criminals – seven of them murderers – 100 were known to be drunkards – and more than half of the women were prostitutes.
 

The descendants of Max Jukes cost the United States government more than $1.25 million in 19th century dollars.
 

Jonathan Edwards was a contemporary of Max Jukes. He was a committed Christian who gave God first place in his life. He married a godly young lady, and some, 1,394 descendants were traced:
 

Two hundred and ninety-five graduated from college, of whom thirteen became college presidents and 65 became professors – three were elected as United States senators – three as state governors, and others were sent as ministers to foreign countries – 30 were judges – 100 were lawyers (one the dean of an outstanding law school) – 56 practiced as physicians (one was the dean of a medical school) – 75 became officers in the military – 100 were well-known missionaries, preachers and prominent authors – another 80 held some form of public office, of whom three were mayors of large cities – one was the comptroller of U.S. Treasury – and another was vice president of the United States.
 

Not one of the descendants of the Edwards family was a liability to the government!”
 

You therefore have no excuse to send your children off to a “rich” relative to train for you. You have a responsibility to train them up in the fear of the Lord by yourself. It is a personal, non-transferable responsibility.
 

  …A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Prov.29:15
 

Look at drug pushers and other evil doers in the society, for instance. They have parents, but those parents for shame would never identify with them. They hide away in shame at the mention of their names, simply because they didn’t hearken to the command to raise their children in the fear of God.
 

Eli was a man who tasted shame because of his children. Although he was a priest in Israel, he failed in the area of child training. His two children (Hophni and Phinehas) became very notorious and were dreaded by the people. They ultimately died and Eli himself broke his neck and died also, all in one day! Not only that, the ark of the covenant was taken from Israel. (1 Sam.4:11,18.)
 

How I wish you would embrace child training as a commandment from God and practice it with the same seriousness with which you pay your tithe or flee fornication. It’s that serious!
 

Being a parent is an awesome responsibility, as well as a fantastic privilege! But in spite of the demands it places upon you, you still need to keep at it with dogged determination. God commands you to train up your children, and He also supplies you with the grace required for the assignment.
 

Please realize that although child training is a commandment, it is also a process which must be continued over a period of time. So, don’t give up when results do not come forth immediately. If you faithfully train your children, you can expect God to fulfill His part. God never commands the impossible, He is faithful.
 

The fruits of a seed that has just been planted doesn’t come forth immediately; but with the farmer’s patience of continuous watering and watching over it, what was formerly a seed soon becomes a plantation, with plenty of fruits to show. Parents need to be patient in training their children.
 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Isa.1:19
Discipline For Raising Godly Children!


Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov.22:6
 

To train means “to mould the character, to instruct by exercise, drill, make obedient, to put or point in an exact direction, to prepare for a contest”. A necessary part of child training is discipline; it is what completes and makes it effective. There is a way to train up a child and discipline is a part of that way.
 

Discipline means training, especially of the mind and character, aimed at producing self-control, obedience, etc.
 

Susanna Wesley, who lived two centuries ago and turned out two of that generation’s most dedicated ministers – Charles and John Wesley, (as well as nine other children), had an interesting philosophy on rearing children.
 

The child who refuses to go to bed at night is the same child that refuses to learn scriptures and follow the Lord. And just as surely as I’d see that child went to bed, I’d see that child come to God.
 

To refuse to discipline your child is to prepare him for destruction. That was how Phinehas and Hophni, the two sons of Eli were destroyed. Their father refused to discipline them. He knew about their immorality, yet he was complacent.
 

For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 1 Sam.3:13
 

Eventually, Eli was also destroyed. So child training is a responsibility of parents (both the father and the mother); and discipline is an integral part of training. I saw a word in the book of Job that reinforced this principle of training.
 

He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. Job 36:10
 

It is God who opens our ears to discipline and commands us to return from iniquity. The two main points mentioned here are – discipline and iniquity. Discipline here means to train up a child (especially our children) to be obedient and self-controlled; while iniquity is anything contrary to righteousness in words, thoughts and in our actions. Until the ear of a child is opened to discipline, iniquity will continue in his life.
 How does God expect us to discipline our children? He expects us to do it with the “rod”. The rod is the tool of discipline; it must be used to mould the character and give shape to the life of our children. Scripturally, there are two types of “rod” – the spiritual and the physical.