Raising Significant Children

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (AMPC)

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then] You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The words “son” and “daughter” are from an original root meaning “to build.”

The Bible instructs us that children are to be regarded as divine gifts, pledges of God’s favor, and as His heritage.

The Bible is literally a book about children. It teaches that all children are received in trust as belonging, first of all, to God. As His property, but loaned to parents to love and care for, they should be taught that they belong to God as well as to their parents.

It is never too early nor too late to teach children the truths of God’s Word. The first and primary responsibility of parents is to bring their children to Jesus for His blessing and salvation.

Jesus was ever touching and blessing children in the New Testament.  He warned that no one should offend them. “Offend'' means “cause to stumble.”  It is a betrayal of trust.

In Deuteronomy 6, the word “diligently” is used concerning how children are to be taught.  The word means, “to sharpen” and is associated with sharpening weapons, as arrows and spears, to make them penetrate deep into the flesh of victims.

God’s Word must be driven deep into the soul and spirit of a child by love and modeling of holy living.

The words sitting, walking, lying down and rising up refer to the whole life with all its activities. Parents are supposed to be the first interpreters of God’s Word to their children. Every child comes into the world full of promise and parents are charged with a Godly responsibility to raise that child in the ways of the Lord.

There are two sides to the coin of parental responsibility, namely, to be full of faith and then to be faithful.

1. Being full of faith implies implicit trust in the living God, in His covenant for parents and children alike, in His promises for a home ordered after His will, and in His faithfulness to undertake according to His Word.
2. Being faithful is the other side of the coin.  If we are full of faith, then, we shall be faithful, taking the Bible as the measure of life for the whole family.

I pray that you take this responsibility of holy living as your greatest responsibility because your children depend on it!