And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deut.11:19)
The battle for the kids is the battle you must fight to ensure that your children do not go with the world. This is a very important battle these days because the world is filled with distractions within and without. Never in the history of the world has there been so many alternatives to God from which children must of necessity choose unless they are taught that your God is the ultimate source of quality life and eternity of peace. These other alternatives are so attractive that it takes the help of someone who has evidently charted the course to guide them in what to do.
How to fight the battle for the kids:
Introduce Them To Your God
Let your children know the God you serve, the importance of being faithful to God as well as the consequences of being unfaithful to God. The scriptures enjoins you to teach your children they should go when they are still young so that when they are old, they won’t deviate from it.
Let Your Home Model Love And Acceptance.
Do anything you can, to model a good home to them because as you forgive each other, submit to each other, demonstrate love to each other etc., you will be teaching the children vital lessons that they can’t learn effectively elsewhere.
Lead By Example.
If you always tell lies and sometimes involve them in doing so, you may not expect them to really live a honest life since they did not see it in you. In your words and actions, you must deliberately lay good examples for them which will point the way to them by the time they are on their own.
Educate Them, But Do It Wisely.
Do everything you can to ensure that your children are properly educated but do it wisely. For instance, many make the mistake of indiscriminately sending their young children alone to foreign countries to be educated without proper guidance. Many have lost their children to the world through such arrangements.
Create Time To Be With Them.
You must deliberately spend time with your children. Spending time with them will afford you opportunity to discover traits in them that you would not have discovered otherwise.
Build Trust.
You need to build up the level of trust between you and your children. This is so important because they will be confused about issues of life for which they will ask questions that require answers. If they don’t trust you, they may ask from the wrong source which may shape their future habits negatively and destroy their lives.
Discipline With Love. Pro.19:18.
Many parents find it difficult to discipline their children because of the affection they have for them. Please note that if you love your child so much that you can’t discipline him or her, such love is questionable.
Set Rules And Ensure Compliance.
Let your children know that once rules are set, they should be obeyed. Once they break rules, let them have the feeling of the sanctions that goes with the breaking of rules. This will make them to be law abiding citizens in the future.
Pray For Them.
After and in spite of all you might have done in terms of personal efforts, the place of prayer cannot be overemphasized in the upbringing of your children. Apart from being a prayer point on your daily prayer list, always seize every available opportunity to pray for them.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, you must win the battle for the kids if you want to have a fulfilled old age and not disappoint God.
