LET’S TALK ABOUT CHILDREN - EPISODE 2 - INTENTIONALLY INVESTING IN OUR CHILDREN (CHRISTIAN VALUES, GOOD CHARACTER TRAITS, MONEY & OTHER CRITICAL RESOURCES FOR A HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT)

I want to mention that the content of this message is not intended to condemn anyone who finds him or herself on the wrong side of what expectations God has of him or her, rather, it is to serve as a wake-up call to the all-important responsibilities we have as parents. However, the language used in here is reflective of the fast-deteriorating situations in which children are brought up, costing our societies unbearable implications. So please take no offence. Thank you for understanding. God bless you. Now lets get into it.....  

1.      Do we have family times we worship, pray and study the word of God with our children at home - Family Altar (morning devotion)?

2.      Does your child know God?

3.      Do you fact check what they are taught in the Sunday school sessions?

4.      Have you ever sought to know from God what His purpose for your child is? Like in the case of Rebekah when she sought the mind of God concerning the jostling of the babies within her – Gen 25:21-26. Or the vivid instructions given Manoah and his wife concerning the birth of Samson when enquired by Manoah in Judges 13:1-14

5.      Are we really observant and conscious about the values and views our children hold about life as they grow? How quick are we to correct wrong character traits our children exhibit at home and how do we treat reports we get to hear from their school or neighbors?

6.      Have we taken interest in knowing the friends our children chat and hang out with?

7.      Do you always impose your thoughts on your children because you pay the bills?

8.      Are you developing robots to function outside of their inbuilt intelligence?

9.      Have you consciously created room for your children to step closer when they need someone to talk to?

10.  How did you handle it the last time your child told you about something bad that has happened to him or her?

11.  Are you sure you aren’t retaliating your ruthless upbringing on your innocent children?

12.  Are you living your unrealized dreams through your children but you have just not told them?

13.  Do you care to know what your children think of you within them? 

14.  Aside school bills, do you save for your children’s medical care and social needs or its always the firefighting approach?

15.  Do you know part of God’s expectation of you as a parent is to leave inheritance for your children? Do you have one to your name? Prov. 13:22

16.  Do you realize and acknowledge the growth stages of your children? Or you see them as toddlers even after they become responsible for other lives either at work, church or their very own offspring?

17.  Do you have a financial plan for the growth and development of your children (academically, spiritually, career/vocation)? Do you have Savings/Investment accounts, insurance, or financial contingency accounts for your children?

18.  Have you completely ceased the father or mother of your child from communicating with their own?

19.  Do you leave the responsibility of your children to your parents?

20.  Between your money and yourself, which does your child know better?

21.  At what point in the lives of your children do they recognize your presence in their lives?

22.  What books have you read on children, how many seminars have you paid to attend on raising children effectively?

23.  Do you have a circle of godly parents who you can pick and share ideas with or from about successful parenting?

24.  How many of your children boldly tell their friends – “this is my mother/this is my father”?

25.  When did your friends become responsible for your children?

26.  Would your child want to have you as their parents if they should come to this world again?

Please permit me to remind you that parenting is a big deal, yes! It’s a serious business, like marriage, it shouldn’t be entered into lightly, like the wisest man who ever lived said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘this person began to build and was not able to finish.’  Luke 14:28. It is easy to find sexual pleasure at any time and with anyone but child bearing and parenting cannot just be with anyone and at any time! It calls for conscious and serious considerations.

Many have given birth but few are parents, many have children in their houses but few take responsibility of them, many spend on children but few are available to them.

Considering your current state of life are you ready to raise someone you will be directly responsible for his or her physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual development and the concomitant financial implications? All of the above cannot definitely be carried out by one person, that is not the original design. Who qualifies to help you get this lifelong engagement carried out? Is the person ready to shoulder these commitments with you? Did you coerce your spouse into bearing children when he or she was not psychologically, emotionally, financially and spiritually ready? What seed money did you put aside awaiting the child? Did you really count the cost? If you did not put these together for the ones already in, it’s not too late, please get a plan for each of them and work hard towards it. But for the subsequent ones, please go to the drawing board, if you want to add.   God bless you as you sit with the mother or father of your child (whether separated or divorced) and discuss the welfare of each of your children by putting pen on a paper to intentionally create a minimum comfortable life for each of your children. Be reminded, as long as the parent of your child is alive and in good health, there is no other better replacement for them – if there are difficulties, seek God on them and get help from experienced godly ones.

If you have abandoned any child of yours to a young woman somewhere, please hear the Word of The Lord and arise to go in search of both mother and child/children. If you have also handed your status as a mother to a man and his parents, please begin to consider the steps to redeem your responsibilities, its not too late, you still can make it right, God will help you if you are willing to obey Him.

Many of us are struggling the way we are because, we have neglected the solutions God gave our children to bring into our lives – some of your emotional and psychological disorders are solutions in the daily warm embrace of your child and in those tiny smiles and little words of appreciation from their little lips, don’t forget, their angels see the face of God daily, Matthew 18:10. If you have lost your spouse to eternity, be encouraged, The Lord is your strength and I want to assure you that sufficient Grace is given you to double up the roles – God created man and made us male and female, from the man, the woman came forth and from the woman, comes a man, so embrace the realities and keep moving even as you seek God for a godly soul to assist you when it becomes most critical. Get godly professional assistance anytime the need arises.  Thank you for taking that bold step in God’s grace to raising the champions for the next generation. Please do pass by again for the next episode.

 

Paul Anang Amasah

amasahpaulanang@gmail.com

Sunday 12th February, 2023.

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