Some of us have forgotten this great responsibility that God has imposed on us, the responsibility of ensuring that our children are well nourished in spirit of God. We’ve been led to believe that the greatest responsibility as parents towards our children is to ensure that they are well fed, healthy, clothed, educated, and living under a comfortable roof, to a great extent that’s the truth, and to be a parent means being able to meet all those needs. We work day and night to ensure that our kids are happy as ever, and all their needs are met. A happy child puts a smile on his/her parents face. O, how delighted we are when we are done paying those school fees, getting that new toy for them, taking them out for shopping, going with them on a vacation, and how about that picnic and so on, all of this are great things we want to do to our children, things that gives them joy. All of us want to make our children's faces shine by gifting them with something special, especially at the holidays, no matter what holiday we celebrate.
However, it turns out nowadays we are spending too much time trying to meet these needs, and surely we are doing really good, however we’ve been caught up with so much to the extent we’ve forgotten about the most important need, their spiritual need. We’ve fail to see that those material presents are a bit like drugs--the dopamine lift is temporary, followed by a deeper inner craving. The best part about being a parent especially for Christian parents is that God has given us the privilege to minister to these young souls, their needs need to be met through God’s love. Our daily jobs seem to be robbing this opportunity from us, and we are letting our children be raised by the world. In the midst of a secular society, it is easy to leave God out of the training of our children.
For most of us especially those living in urban areas we get up around 5 am before our kids are up, to rush to work, and by the time we get back home it’s probably too late and our kids are already in bed, some bother to go and kiss them goodnight, some don’t. Some of us end up not seeing our kids throughout the entire week, and most weekends are filled with plans to hand around with friends; the child care responsibility has been imposed on the house maid. Housemaids have become the actually parents, they know our kids better than we do. I sit and ask to myself, is this the kind of parenting God has called us to? Are we really taking charge of the greatest responsibility? We don’t know what those maids are feeding our children’s minds with. Do they get time to play with them, with all those house chores around, or do they just sit them in from of the telly? I leave that question with you.
We can provide food, shelter, health, and roof over our children’s heads, but if we don’t give them the time they deserve, then at end of the day we’re just wasting our energy. When children are born their minds are empty, and it’s our duty to fill those empty minds as they grow up, however if we don’t give them the time they rightful deserve, what kind of generation are we raising? Being a parent means being more than just a provider. Your child needs you around, and above all God needs you around your child, that’s why He entrusted that responsibility upon you. Let’s understand and make it clear that the maid is just a helper and not the parent.
Being a parent in God’s kingdom doesn’t mean only providing the material things; it also means meeting the spiritual needs of your child. The Bible tells us to raise a child in a way he/she should go and they will never part from it no matter what (Proverbs 22:6). Being a parent is more important than the jobs we do, we need to spend more time with our children. They will learn so much about us and God only when we give them the time to be around us, they can only grow up the way we desire when we allow them to learn from us.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God tells the Israelites to impress the commandments on their children, talking about them when they sit at home, when they walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up. The same responsibility was passed on to us; we need to be doing the same. Our kids not only need material things, they also need spiritual satisfaction.
If we desire the best for our kids as parents we need to become courageous parents, we need to give them our time, and we need to develop the courage to do what is best for them, that is, raising them in God’s love, kindness, and mercy. The best gift we could give our kids is the love of God, when we provide for then we need to provide with God’s love, we need to give them time, and teach them about God.
Our kids will turn out to be who we desire for them only when we’ve come to understand that they need us as they are growing up. Some of the greatest joys you’ll ever experience on this planet will have to do with your children, and some of the greatest sorrows you’ll ever experience on this planet will have to do with your children as well. The most precious gift and possession that God has ever entrusted to us are our children; we have to be accountable for them. As Christian parents we need to know that God’s primary agenda for parenting our children is to make them like Christ, this means having the heart of Christ and living a life in which they care for people the way Christ did. This is possible only when we give them the time they deserve. God wants us to raise our kids in a way that they love Him and they love their parents as they become more like Christ. At the end of the day, what matters most is that we as parents can bring our love and limits to our kids. Love means offering our nurturing and support and limits means laying down boundaries that keeps them away from us, our jobs can and the busyness that comes with it can really separate us from our kids.
Our goals for our children must go far beyond what we can do in our own strength, which only feeds our pride. We must train our children to trust God and live a supernatural life in which they walk in His Spirit, and this goal can be accomplished only when we’ve learned that we should give our children the time they deserve from us. Spending time together doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. It can be as simple as baking together, reading, doing the grocery shopping or going for a walk, let this walk be a walk with then in God’s glory.
Discipline means teaching obedience according to God in his Word through consistent consequences and actions, and clear instructions and words in an atmosphere of love, if we don’t give our children the time they need, how can we then teach them this. It’s about time we change and become the parents God desires us to be toward our kids. Parenting is about so much more than simply providing materialistic things to our children. Parenting is about teaching our children to obey God. And there is no better way to do that than through our example, giving them the time see God through us. Parenthood is a calling, and we will be accountable before God.
Spending some quality time with your child should be a mandatory practice for any Christian Parent who desires to empower their child’s spiritual growth. When we know our children’s interests and potential strengths, we can plan activities that support them, and help them grow in God’s love. Spending time with our children opens a line of honest communication; our children can open up when we spend relaxed time with them, away from the demands of our house, job or other siblings, giving them this special attention sends a very important message of care and love. Children have their own interests and needs. By spending more time with them as parents we become more aware of our children’s passions and talents, and we get a chance to nurture them in a way that brings the glory back to God.
“Kids may be screaming for the latest gadget, but what they want more than anything is time with the family. Make that your biggest gift this year.” – MidnightBliss
“Children need relationships and a sense of attachment to thrive for optimal development. Research has confirmed that small amounts of focused time where kids have your attention is beneficial in terms of building attachments.” Goodwin says.
"You will always be your child's favorite toy." -- Vicki Lansky
Let’s give our children time with us, and let us be the parents God desires us to be.
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