Parenting

Parenting is the most pleasant opportunity that the Lord Almighty will grant us in expressing love to another human being. Parenting is like nurturing a plant by tilling the soil, watering it and watching it grow. Parenting is demanding, overwhelming but can be very rewarding.

What does the Bible teach about parenting?  

1. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6&7 (NIV)  
2. “Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

We can see from the passages mentioned above that God wants us to be there for our children by liaising, educating, loving and most importantly, showing them the way of the Lord.  

Parenting covers all the different stages children pass through; the baby, toddler, teenager and adult stages. Every step has its pressure, challenges and rewards. A parenting job doesn’t end; it is for life.

Effective ways of parenting:

• Involving God in our parenting role enables us to do the job efficiently. He provides wisdom.
• We need to realise that once you become a parent, you cease being responsible for yourself alone, you are now also responsible for the life and the welfare of another human being. 
• Children need our attention, so we have to spend quality time with them reading, talking, playing, eating and so on. 
• Communicating with our children at an early stage enables us to identify the individual needs of our children and meeting them.
• We should be engaged with their interests and hobbies and encourage them to be the best that they can be.
• As parents, if our children have taken the wrong decision, we have to find a mature and godly way of pointing such out.

Rewards of Godly parenting:

• If we carry out our parenting responsibilities with love, our children will love us back even when we dispense discipline, resulting in a close relationship between parents and children.
• Our children will gladly take up the responsibility of looking after us when we grow old. 
• Children will value what we think regarding the decisions they make in life.
• Their achievements will make us proud.
• The peace of God will always be with us knowing that our children are being looked after by him.

Lowlights of being a Parent:

• Parenting is overwhelming, demanding and can be stressful.
• Many a time, initially, you may not get a thank you.
• It can be emotionally draining when things do not work out for the child, and the parents think they are to blame. 
•  Every stage a child passes through can be an anxious time for a parent. It hurts when children go through difficult times, and you are unable to take the pain away.  

Staying Ahead:

• We should always pray for our children, whether we are on good terms with them or not.
• Build a family altar, praying and reading the Bible.
• We are allowed to get upset with them, but it should be for just a while.
• If we can help it, child-rearing should be a hands-on responsibility, entrusting this role to someone else does not always work.
• We should not play double standards with our children but treat each child equally.
• We should not condemn or write-off our children. God does not do that.
• Beware, children pick up good and bad vibes.