Parenting

They are a blessing and a trust. Children. God gives us all good things to enjoy but also to care for. Usually the mother is first to fall in love with the child. She is the one most impacted with the reality of a new life. The father comes on board later with the first helpless cry or crooked grin. That child is a blessing but also a trust. In order to take care of something properly we need some knowledge and experience. I was handed my first baby boy at the age of 19 and had neither. Now as a grandmother I know so much more. .... and this is what I know;

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Our children, as precious as they are, are sinners. Jesus loves sinners. Jesus loves us and our children. We both need to know Jesus to live a truly wholesome and good life. As parents the job falls to moms and dads to prepare the way for Christ in a child's heart. That means that the child must first see Christ in us. We need to live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit that loves God and others including our children. We need to pray and tell them about Jesus and that he is the reason that we are able to live in the supernatural. Our children need love and structure. But we will fall short.

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God loves us and is there to help us with our responsibilities. We can access that assistance in raising children but parents may be dealing with their own problematic past .... a lack of knowledge and experience or even abuse. Here is the warning label that comes with your child; If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble it would be better for him to have a mill stone tied around his neck and to be dropped into the depths of the sea. Raising a child is a serious business ... we need to apply ourselves. We need to seek God's face. There are eternal consequences at stake. This is a priority.

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What causes little ones to stumble? An offense .... Father's do not embitter your children ... abuse, criticism, molestation, lack of training or loving discipline, perpetuated folly of any sort. Children are not so resilient as we have heard ... no one is. Look at the soldier returning from war or prison camp ... how many issues are there? We all bear scars from living in this place with folks that have sinned against us. We have believed lies .... we have absorbed the example of others and mistakenly thought that God did not care for us .. that we were not worth much ... or that God even hates us. We have owned and perpetuated these lies.

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In these lies we stumble and even go astray with hearts that have hardened against God and man. How serious it is to raise up a child with a little heart that has grown a hard protective shell against God and others? What kind of life will they live in this world? Is there eternal salvation at stake? We have been entrusted as parents with a compelling responsibility. It may be that heart surgery is needed on us before we pass on that hard heart to our children. Jesus knows and he can help. It is never too late.