Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Being a parent has it's difficulties doesn't it? I mean we have a huge responsibility do we not? Sometimes we are in the middle of working on ourselves and then guess what? We need to train up a child also? Thank God I am married now but there was a season I was a full time single dad of 2 growing boys, and it wasn't easy.
I got to hand it to all the single parents out there trying to do their best. I was only a single parent for a short time and I get it, much less those of you who have been doing it for years. I have a very dear friend of mine who has 4 kids and she is doing it on her own.... I can't imagine. She is a trooper. You single parents deserve an award for this.
I love this scripture and I love this picture above because it reminds me of something my two boys would do, Lord I thank you for angels. My boys have kept them angels busy! If I can be real I believe that I kept my angels pretty busy growing up as well, especially since for the majority of my life I wasn't even serving God. But this isn't about me, I want to talk to you today.
Parents, our jobs are not easy are they? Life, the enemy... life... did I say life? Well things can really make it hard raising kids, but at the same time, it's rewarding. I love my boys so much and am so glad that I get to be a part of their life every day. Our kids are our pride and joy, and as I said before, we have a major responsibility on our hands. I could start a series of blogs here and who knows I may.... but for the time being, I want to focus on the training part. The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go. Interesting the Bible didn't say, the church train your child, or the school train your child but you are to train up your child in the way they should go.
Why do we think it's ok for the church to raise our children? Let me remind you that kid's church Pastors/Leaders only see your children for an hour or maybe two at the most per week. So, the church has the responsibility to raise our kids? No, it's not the church who has the responsibility it's the parents! It's us!
While I am getting into all of your business right now and your still reading this let's talk about the school system. Now if your child goes to a Christian school great, and that helps but many go to public schools where your children are exposed to many things at much younger ages than when I was in school. Now, for me I am ok with my children going to a public school because there is a mission field there, but there is also a risk involved. The chances of Christian kids influencing their peers is lower than peers influencing Christian kids. Let's just be real ok? And don't get all holy on me I know that our kids have the Holy Spirit, and that angels are watching over them and all of that but I a just saying, we are still flesh! We have desires! We will never stop trying to crucify our flesh, and it's harder for kids these days to say no to things.
I have spent several years in youth ministry and kids have come to me who have had sex, did drugs and drank alcohol... stolen.. fought with suicide, dealt with rejection and felt alone. Yes, these kids who have the Holy Spirit and have angels watching over them. Can I just say it's not just kids but many adults are dealing with the same demons, but anyways, we are talking about the kids.
Parents, I get that we will never be perfect and I am not expecting you to be perfect but take your responsibility of training your child seriously. Being in ministry for a while, you see things you wish you had not ever seen. I have stories but for the sake of not writing a book here I won't get into it. You may not as a parent have it all together, but keep working. You know, sometimes I feel like I have failed with my boys at times. I wish at times I could go back in time and do some things differently, but I am human and we need to learn from those things. This walk with the Lord is a journey and a marathon. Train your kids, even while working on you. Train your kids, don't put your burden onto the church or the school. The church and the school's job is to instruct, to give knowledge, it's your job to train them in the ways of the Lord. It's your job to tell them what's right and what's wrong and allow them to walk by themselves.
As I end this, I remeber the movie Ray, starring Jamie Fox. Jamie Fox played Ray Charles but at the first part of the movie, it showed how Ray Charles went blind as a boy. There was a scene I will never forget. His mother kept helping him when he was losing his vision. She trained him about smell, and touch. This one scene Ray walks in his house, he is totally blind at this point and his mom is there, but she keeps quiet. Ray is walking around his house, can't see a thing in front of him and he keeps yelling for his mom, but she stays there not making a sound. You may say that's cruel, but she was seeing what he learned. There comes a point when he is getting very close to a wood stove and it was very hot. His mom wanted to help but, he had to learn.. so she stayed quiet. Ray's hand got very close to the oven, but he noticed it was hot and turned away... and finally his mom rushes in and gives him a huge hug.
We as parents must be the same way when it comes to our kids. We have to train them, but we have to also allow them to make their decisions, depending on their age. We can lead them to water but we can't make them drink. I want to stress the importantnce of training our kids. Train them in the Lord. Teach them about the Word of God. Teach them how to pray. Teach them about how to listen to the voice of God, and finally, teach them how to do things around the house. Teach them to cook, to clean, to do laundry. This is important stuff.
I hope this blessed you today. I got blessed out of it because I love kids and I love my boys. We won't always do everything right all the time parents, we will fail at times. But learn, move on, and help your kids so they won't fall into the same traps that you did. I pray that God will bless you and your family today. I pray for healing in the family unit, and I pray for unity.
Be Blessed!
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