admin
Parenting means protecting your children Parenting is an assignment from the God in which he gives us the job of protecting children until they are mature.
Such protection begins before a baby is born.
If a girl or woman drinks alcohol while she is pregnant, the baby may be born with brain damage. Even if she stopped drinking after learning she was pregnant, she may find her baby’s brain was damaged by alcohol even before she realised she was pregnant. It is therefore wise for any girl or woman who is likely to conceive not to drink any beer or other alcohol.
God gives us the job of protecting children until they are mature.
A critical area in which children need protection is that of pornography. Many children use the internet and other electronic media to look at pornographic images and watch sex acts. The pornography they see on such devices can lead them into sexual sin and many kinds of evil. As a parent, you must know what your child is watching, and you must take steps to protect them from looking at pornography.
Parents who really love their children will guide them on how to live.
Most young people want boundaries, even though they will push against whatever limits are set. Young people want rules that clearly show them what they should do and what they must not do. Parents who really love their children will guide them on how to live. Parents who do not guide their children are saying with their actions, “I do not care about you. You can become as bad as you want.” That is not the kind of parents we want to be.
The Importance of Fathers
Today some fathers in Africa do not stay at home with their wives and children.
They choose to stay in the town where they work. Some stay in a girlfriend’s flat or in the local disco. Such men come home only to change clothes, eat a meal, and demand sex from their wife. That kind of father is not satisfactory for Africa where we hope to compete with the rest of the world.
Africa can become a world leader, but that will be possible only if our fathers see how important it is to stay with their wife and children and show love to them. Being a good father means spending time helping your child to grow into a responsible adult.
A wife says, “Our children were so angry when their father left home. They felt, ‘Dad left home because he no longer loves us’. But I promised God that I will never leave our children. And I pray that through me, they will realise that our heavenly Father has not left us”.
The marks of a good father
Being a father is more than making a woman pregnant. Being a good father means spending time helping your child to grow into a responsible adult. A good father listens and talks to his wife and children instead of sitting in front of a television. Only then can a man claim to be a real father.
A responsible provider
Such a father invests money wisely and builds the family home. He works so that the family will have food for another season. He talks with his children about how to handle money, how to make and keep friends, how to respect the opposite sex, how to walk and live as people of honour, how to avoid the ways of bad friends, and how to work diligently at home and at school.
Committed to quality time
Each family should eat together at least one meal each day, turning off the television and other distractions, and talking freely with one another. This time together should be relaxed and enjoyable. It is also a time for them to tell how wonderful it is to walk with Jesus.
Modelling Godly marriage
Fathers should be present in the home and love their wife and children, pay school fees on time, care for their children, and take time to ask them about their joys and troubles. Such fathers will help their sons to realise, “After I marry, I must not forget the promises I made on my wedding day. I must not be a womaniser who lives a life full of adultery. I must not get drunk. Rather, I must be a father who takes responsibility for my wife and children. Together my wife and I must show our children how to be faithful Christians and good parents”.
The essence of Christ-centred parenting
This is the essence of Christ-centred parenting: to practise parenting that transcends our own family and children. We must undertake the training of a generation that will follow after God’s heart and who can, in turn, pass on Godly values to the next generation.
Jesus Christ is our guide for parenting. He is present among us in every situation, penetrating our culture, transforming us from within, and giving us new meaning and purpose. Our cultures may change and evolve, but Jesus Christ does not. His word comes down into our values—not to destroy them but to transform them for his own purposes, helping us to develop a biblical African style of parenting to pass from one generation to the next.
Godly parenting: Points to remember
Trust in God as your partner in parenting. God is Emmanuel, present with us. He desires to be actively involved to guide and encourage us as we bring up our children.
Pass along Christian standards, African values, and family rituals. God has given us precious values for child training. In most places in Africa, parenting goes beyond one’s own children to involve the children of the neighbour and others growing up in the community.
A collective approach to parenting through the church, community, and family can help build Godly children and keep our African identity strong.
Value your children
Children are made in God’s image. As his image-bearers, they have inherent value and worth, which parents have the divine obligation to protect. Left alone to grow without correction and discipline, the child will make unfortunate choices that will lead to pain and sorrow. Parents should strike a balance between allowing children to be children and training them to become responsible adults.
Celebrate your children
Mark each of your children’s milestones with events they can remember as they grow up: birthdays, confirmation ceremonies, rites of passage, graduations, thanksgiving, and many more. These create memories that enrich their lives and help to chart their progress. – TGC Africa Study Bible
Online Reporter