Everything in this world has a beginning (Genesis 1:2). God made plans for humanity and for his purpose to be established (Jerimiah 29:11). “If you fail to plan, you will plan to fail”. The love of God can neither be measured nor even understood. This means for us to know his Love is to desire a personal relationship with him. Our first family is in heaven including all the Angelic hosts (1Peter 1:17, 1John 3:1, Rev 5:10).
Parenting is the process of guiding, caring, and supporting children so that they become responsible adults. God established a type of parents (Adam and Eve) Gen 4:1-2. An individual becomes a parent when he/she gives birth. Children are gifts, fruits of the womb, and arrows in a man’s hand from God Matt 12:33-35, Luke 1:1-20,26-38, Jeri 1:5, Psalm 127:3-5. Do not be ignorant because children would be accounted for Hebrews 9:27. Children are not a personal property that you can use anyhow, but they are precious gifts and so they should be consecrated to God.
A person must prepare for the coming of the child because it is a fulfilling prophecy according to Isaiah 9:6-7. Why then do we see so many rejected orphans and street children around? To be a parent, one must be hardworking Genesis 2:15, Colossians 3:23. It is a serious calling because out of one man would come thousands Gen 15:5. The circumstance to which a child is born doesn’t count (Genesis 16, 18:10-14, 20:22-24, 25:19-26, 35:16-18, 37:3, Luke 1:18,34) example, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Benjamin, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, John, Jesus etc. but it is how he /she is disciplined by a parent that matters Proverbs 22:6. Children become whatever you invest in them Ecclesiastes 3:2b. A parent must also be careful on how he/she displays anger and violent tantrums since children learn by what they see. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control (Gal 5:22) should be part of the character of every Christian parent.
Parents, no matter the situation must LOVE their children unconditionally John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1John 3:18, Matt 5:44-48. It should not be only when the child does the right thing. Love covers all wrongs Proverbs 10:12. Parents must enter the presence of God with thanksgiving and joy for their children and should not compare the behaviors of children because every child is a star on earth.
Parents must provide basic needs such as food, clothes, shelter for their children Gen 3:21, Matt 6:31-33, Psalm 127:2. Christians depend on God for their divine provisions. So do children depend on their parents for survival, which defines trust Proverbs 3:5, 1Peter 2:-5, 2Tim 1:12. There are different kinds of relationships in parenting. It includes parent-children (God and Man), sibling-sibling (males and females), and parent-parent (husband and wife) relationships. It is a field of learning from each other that begins from birth until death. Every individual on earth falls under these major categories either the person is a parent or a child or both 1Tim 2:5. Communication cannot be left out as far as these relationships are concerned. It is the means of sending and receiving information Phil 4:6, 2Tim 2:7. There should be a verbal (prophecies, teachings, preaching) and non-verbal (visions, dreams, revelations, discernments) messages from God in a Christian’s life despite the fact that there is a choice. Parents must make adjustments, compromisations, and molding of children’s behavior.
Written By: Effua Gyamfua