We live in a world consisting of families in which children are born. And when we hear about population growth, this doesn't even surprise us. But how does God look at the birth of a child, and what does He expect from parents? What status do father and mother have in Heaven's eyes?
Observing the attitude toward children, you understand that a small child is a little doll who touches everyone around, so cute and all sweet. And they even say that the first child is a nanny, and the second is a baby. But let's soberly look at this Divine miracle.
A child is first of all a person who at each stage of his development from conception to birth, and then to old age and death, experiences the processes of growth and perfection laid into him. I think that many of you, looking at any child or teenager, will be able to quickly determine his age. But why? Because we all develop according to the same laws laid into us by God. But the very first days and years of life are the most important period, during which the foundation of his future character and behavior is laid into the mind of the little person, on which depends his further destiny and eternal fate.
God gives parents a clean sheet of paper of the human soul, where father and mother begin to write laws and rules, mistakes and sins, which become the driving force of the soul and its spiritual indicators when choosing the further path.
If someone thinks that children need to be raised when the child begins to understand or speak something, such a beginning will be too late. He who says that one needs to raise from the first day of birth will be right, but this too can turn out to be a very belated decision. The most daring will declare that the process of upbringing begins from conception, when you learned about the addition to your family. And they will be right.
Let's give as an example an officer who is entrusted with personnel with whom he must conduct military actions and fulfill combat tasks set by his higher command. At what moment of his career can he be called a wise and successful commander? I think that they won't entrust anyone to him until he passes certain preparation and passes an exam on his qualification.
The same can be said about teachers, doctors, policemen and other servants who receive and have certain education before they begin to be entrusted with professional work with people. But when it comes to creating a family and raising a child, for some reason such ignorance and indifference is allowed in this sphere that one doesn't cease to be amazed and saddened, seeing multiplying misfortune and suffering, broken destinies and families. And then they go to God with all this, accusing Him and asking Him the question of why He allowed so much suffering and grief. After all, if He existed, He surely wouldn't have allowed such things. What can one answer to such statements?
But God has a special people who understand who man is, and where he came from, and what forces govern him.
Being parents is the most responsible profession in the entire Universe, because these very people, father and mother, create a masterpiece of the human soul, which was conceived for Eternal life and was not supposed to die because of old age or sin. They are given a unique opportunity to reveal God's image by their example to a new little person and to instill into his character the image and likeness of God. And it is precisely such a result that the Lord desires to see in the life of each growing person. God entrusts not a toy for amusement and touching, but a personality, a living person, albeit small, but real, growing according to a certain program. And he grows up someday.
Perhaps the reader of these lines thinks: "But why do I need to know this, since I don't have a family or children? And maybe I never will?" Tell me, but when do they prepare officer staff for war and defense of the Motherland? In peacetime, because during war ready specialists are needed, not students. And how do you know what will be tomorrow, and what benefit the acquired knowledge will bring you?
God doesn't simply place responsibility on us in order to later ask us for an account, but also offers together with this His participation, cooperation, help and support in the matter of upbringing. Without Him we won't be able to do anything, and He knows this, so He doesn't leave us. Motherhood is a Divine instinct laid into every woman whom the Lord has determined to become the mother of His creation, so as to later adopt these people when they grow up and want to belong to God's family.
Everything that parents will sow into their child's mind, they will reap for all the remaining life. Everything that they don't want to sow with good seeds, the world will sow with its weeds, which will then have to be weeded all life long, sighing about missed opportunities.
I know one person who, not having light, raised his daughter as he could, applying all efforts to make a worthy person out of her. When his daughter went to school, he acquired a new book in the store called "Child Rearing," which previously hadn't existed in his native language. When he began to study it, he understood how much he had missed, and this could never be corrected. There was no limit to his despair and tears of soul, and he thought why no one had given him this information earlier. Now we have much literature and much light on questions of child-rearing, but what's surprising is that ignorance hasn't gone anywhere either. Many young parents think that they themselves know what to do with children, but a moment comes when they don't understand how to act with these little egoists who feel very well what to do with their foolish parents and how to get from them what the fleshly nature desires.
A child needs not only nutrition and clean clothes, but also understanding of his boundaries, rights and obligations, understanding of who he is and why he lives in this world. And into the task of father and mother enters complete explanation of all these questions in the right spirit.
Children are not asked permission for their appearance in the world. Not all children are desired and loved, and they feel and understand this, but this doesn't remove responsibility from parents and doesn't deprive them of the opportunity to change something for the better in the upbringing of children.
It's easier to give a young tree the needed form and direct branches in the right direction. Nothing can be changed in an old tree anymore. In the same way, it's simpler to give a small stream the needed direction, but nothing can be done with a full-flowing river anymore. It already has firm boundaries that confidently hold its channel.
Everything that was missed in the early years will be difficult to return, just as the past cannot be returned. But even if this happened, and I came to my senses only now, it's worth standing on the path of wisdom, love and friendship to give God the opportunity to turn everything to good. Love knows how to work miracles at any stage of upbringing and create something new and warm in the heart. And where it was cold, it becomes warm and cozy. At some moment of life God Himself can take the upbringing of a person into His hands, give birth to him for Himself and raise him for His Kingdom, granting at the beginning of this adoption wise teachers and mentors, preparing his heart for the Eternal.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Rom.14:12; Prov.1:8-9; 22:6; Ps.118:9; Eccl.1:15; 4:13; 11:5-6; Is.62:2-5; Matt.19:20-22; 2Tim.2:22; Heb.4:13; 13:17; 1Pet.3:15 in light of this lesson. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind? What did you understand from this lesson? Who are children? Is it important to understand one's responsibility before God for the upbringing of children? Should those who don't have a family or children learn the principles of Christian upbringing? Does the upbringing that was laid into him from childhood help an adult person? Do you realize those mistakes that your parents made in your upbringing? Should something be changed in one's approach to raising a child if you didn't know what it should be like, and did what you considered necessary? Judg.21:25. Does correct upbringing help to later make the right choice? Do children grow up similar to their parents in character and attitude toward others? Why is it necessary to understand one's responsibility before God for the upbringing of the rising generation? Will a child grow up if he is not raised? What will he become then? How will God require an account for the influence exerted on children?