When I have something that I consider mine, I have the freedom to use it as I see fit. But if I have something that doesn't belong to me but is given to me for temporary use, then I have limited power over someone else's property. And what doesn't belong to me and isn't given into my power has no relation to me.
Young parents need to understand whose child is the one born into their family. An honest answer to this question helps build and plan their further relationship and approach to raising this person. The question arises: "If this child is born from us - from father and mother, but he is not ours, then whose is he?" Believers usually say: "God's." But with their attitude and behavior, they may declare to Heaven that they are the masters of this little person and the voice of his conscience, and no one else.
God doesn't quarrel with such parents, doesn't punish them with lightning from heaven, and allows them to decide for themselves how and what to do. But He observes everything that happens in such families, and a book of remembrance is written before His face.
Those parents who don't even consider themselves parents but are seekers of sensual pleasures and aren't interested in the consequences of their sins also cause special pain to Heaven when unwanted children come into the world.
But God also has such parents who understand their status and value the high trust shown to them by Heaven, and with reverence receive from God's hands that treasure which is their son or daughter, and realize all the responsibility for the trust shown. They can be boldly called parents from God.
They may not have experience and knowledge in child-rearing, they may not have sufficient means to provide themselves and their children with everything necessary, but they have an understanding that God has placed upon them a great responsibility that will not be removed from them until a certain time. They have faith in the One who will surely help them.
Recognizing their dependence on God doesn't make parents super wise people, but it lays a good foundation for obtaining necessary knowledge and experience in alliance with the Most Powerful Forces in the entire Universe.
God, for His part, endows His faithful stewards with all the necessary qualities of soul and character that will help parents make correct and wise decisions, foresee dangers, and plan for the future.
Parents from God are God's representatives to their children. And there's nothing reprehensible in this, since they are given this authority in their family, and their task includes not only revealing the correct image of God to children but also restoring and forming the Divine character in these little people. Father and mother not only shape their child into a law-abiding person but also form a character suitable for life in Eternal dwellings. And without Divine participation, a simple sinful person lacks both wisdom and strength to fulfill such a responsible task.
The love of husband and wife for each other lays a beautiful model of relationships in their home. They already have a good beginning, and each new child flows into their family to share this accepted love equally among all and bring joy to the general friendly atmosphere.
Parents from God are unique in that they know Whose they are, from Whom they receive strength and wisdom, where to go, and what goal is in their life. They are in constant communication with Heaven and feel their dependence on God. And the Lord doesn't leave His servants to the mercy of this world but gives them much more than they ask and hears all their prayers and concerns.
God is more interested in the salvation and upbringing of our children than we can imagine. The highest price imaginable was paid for their lives. And such an evaluation helps understand that we are not alone and that nothing is impossible for God.
Child-rearing includes many different factors of perception, stages of growth, and external influences that are taken into account from above and based on which the Lord acts in the lives of parents.
It's important for a child not only to instill good manners but also to preserve him from the harmful influence of the world and teach him to independently resist the enemy of the soul and choose good.
The alliance of God with parents from Him is very important. By default, parents can guess that they are God's stewards of His children and agree with this, but when they consciously acknowledge this fact and ask God to endow them with everything necessary to fulfill this mission, then their prayers are based not only on faith that they will receive some answer to their requests, but on the fact that they are in covenant with God and are engaged in raising God's property and need additional blessing for themselves and their children.
How experienced drivers feel, one of whom has a license to drive, and the other has only experience. Both can operate a car. Only the one with rights is bold and fears no one, while the one without rights shudders at the sight of every policeman.
The conscious alliance of parents with God gives them more rights and advantages in raising children than those who only guess that perhaps Someone up there will help but decide all questions by their own strength.
When I take another book about child-rearing or go to a lecture on this question and ask God to endow me with wisdom from above in understanding what I don't know based on our covenant with Him, this looks much better than if I rely on my intuition and education.
God especially honors those who are in covenant with Him.
The Lord is the Most Reliable Entrepreneur and Partner in any enterprise. He never violates the conditions of the agreement with His servants and does His part of the work faithfully and timely. But at the same time, He doesn't do for people what is expected from them.
If parents neglect the upbringing of their children and choose computers or television as nannies, then an angel won't come from Heaven and pull the plug from the socket. But the Holy Spirit will surely convict such ignorance and show the better way if the parents' ears are open.
Raising children for God is not only constant joy and mutual love, it's also constant struggle with oneself, with one's laziness, with the child's free will, with the influence of evil, with the opinion of strangers, and with everything that tries to bring chaos and destruction into your family. Don't think that if you've made a covenant, everything will now be easy and smooth - this is only the beginning of a great confrontation where the enemy doesn't surrender for a second without a fight. But we have an advantage - Jesus has already won this war, and we enter the army of the Victor to go with Him from victory to victory. Winners don't sit in defense but advance and conquer new territories, destroying all the enemy's plans. We have the Wisest Commander who hasn't lost a single battle.
Parents from God are soldiers of God's army who understand Who is in charge and to Whom everything belongs. They're not afraid to make mistakes but learn from them and pass on the experience of their victories to other people.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Gen. 18:19; 33:5; Deut. 6:7; Eph. 6:4; Prov. 20:7; 3 John 1:4; Titus 2:7-8; 1 Pet. 5:1-5; Ps. 126:3; 127:1; Jer. 1:5; Phil. 2:15; Isa. 54:13, in light of this lesson. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind? What did you understand from this lesson? What does it mean to be a parent from God? What's the difference between ownership and temporary management? To whom does the child belong who is born into the family? Why do you think so? Why doesn't God intervene by force in parents' methods of upbringing? What's the difference between parents from God and those who raise children without God? Why do parents from God correctly represent God to their children? How do parents participate in forming God's character in children? What should be the main thing in this undertaking? Why is it important for a child to feel like part of a loving family? How do parents from God understand their dependence on God and His participation in their lives? How does the alliance of parents with God differ from ordinary intuitive upbringing? What's the difference between raising children for yourself and raising them for God?