THE ROLE OF PARENTING
Job 1:6, Gen 18:19
Fathers Abraham and Job are case studies for today’s lesson. The Bible instructs that a child should be well trained in the way he should go, this is directly applicable to raising a child in a godly way and not according to societal norms, so that when this child grows, he won’t depart from it. Sometimes, there could be a whole lot of pressures on parents as they deal with the difficult task of managing their children, and the Bible provides help in assisting parents navigate the stormy waters of raising children in our decadent society.
In Job 1:6, Job was seen making sacrifices for his children because he did not know whether his
children had sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Job exemplified a fatherly expectation of a godly father whose responsibilities were not strictly bent on financial provision, but on fulfilling the law of spiritual covering over his children. The same is applicable to Abraham. God testified about him that He knew he would teach his children the way of the Lord. Abraham taught Isaac from his early days to the day of his youth when he was to be rendered as a sacrifice to God, making him believe in the divine provision of a Lamb for the sacrifice, while Job on the other end, made the sacrifices on behalf of each of his ten children.
The significant lesson to learn from this is that both fathers laid a good, proper and solid foundation for their descendants despite their massive wealth and prosperity; setting for us a godly example to emulate. Other godly parents to learn from are: the mother of Jesus, Lois and Eunice (Timothy’s grandmother and mother), Philip (the father of four prophetesses) etc. The devil will go to any length to corrupt and pollute the minds of our children if godly measures of parenting are not activated.
Effective parenting is intentional: it is planned, focused, and has an expected end in mind. Good parents don’t leave the job of parenting to chance neither do they commission the assignment of training their children to others. Even serious minded parents encounter challenges in dealing with raising their children well. Because all have sinned, none of us has perfect parents and none of us will be perfect parents. What we can do is learn biblical principles, commit our way as parents unto the Lord, and trust Him to work powerfully in our children’s lives beyond what we can do on our own.
PRAYER: Thank you God that children are your heritage. Thank you also for your word says that I and the children that you have given unto me are for signs and wonders, I therefore receive the godly wisdom to train up my children in the way you have designed for them.
