Take Every Opportunity

“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 are faced with many great opportunities as parents to teach, train, encourage and love our children. There are life situations (both good and bad) that can be turned into teachable moments, but how often do we grab those opportunities to speak to our children about God? Let’s keep in mind that God has called us to be parents to raise boys and girls to become godly men and women of faith for Him.

Sometimes we may be discouraged as parents, that we believe we are not worthy of receiving a “best parent” award.  Understand that God doesn’t ask us to be award winning parents, but He has called and given us this privilege of becoming parents to our children in whom He has blessed us with; our calling is to build up our children with a biblical worldview and to be rooted in God’s Word so that Christ alone is their firm foundation. Allow our children to see us do ministry, pray and study the Bible – that is perhaps one of the best examples and modeling we can do for our children. As our children watch us, they will understand what we value most and how we apply that in our very own lives. Along with that, there is a need to set healthy boundaries for our children in order for them to make wise choices while they are young and when they grow older. Clear boundaries are necessary as part of disciplining our children so they can learn to discern and make right choices when given the freedom to do so within those boundaries.  As we discipline and instruct our children with God’s Word, it will teach them to respect, obey and love their Lord, as well as those in authority.

Indeed, parenting requires a lot of patience and time – but it isn’t so much the amount of time we spend with our children as it is with keeping our priority of creating and spending time and memories with them. Spending time with our children (however much time we have) helps them understand how important, loved and valued they are to us. It also allows us as parents to live out the gospel, as they watch and interact with us and to establish a Kingdom faith in acknowledging who God is in their lives.

For those of us who have children or work with them, we know that children are like sponges – they easily soak up everything and learn best from what they observe more than what they hear. As Mark Holmen said in Faith Begins At Home, “faith is not something that can be taught; faith is something that must be caught.” Modeling a Christ-like attitude, character and faith begins right at home. Reflect on this question, what are we passing on to our children?

It’s impossible to teach and train our children without God being the source of our strength, so let’s trust in God to give us wisdom as we seek His help; when God calls us into an assignment, He will certainly provide – in this case of parenting, God will guide and lead us to train our children to love Him with all their heart, mind, strength and soul.

The goal of parenting as said by Tony Evans in Raising Kingdom Kids, “isn’t just shaping the way they think and believe; it’s shaping the way they live.” It’s important to understand that how our children are shaped is based on how we invest in them – our time of discipline, teaching, training and encouraging them plays a part in who they will become. Children grow up fast, before we even know it they begin to walk and talk and soon they’re off to college. It’s crucial to take every opportunity we have with our children to invest in their lives, so that no time or opportunity is wasted as every season passes by.