HOW TO RAISE YOUR CHILD TO BE A SERVANT OF THE LORD OUR GOD

EarlyLearning, Education, Communication, Rules Setting

By:Laura Pelliton/Zeida

February 28, 2019

    When we talk about raising a child to be a servant of God, most people would assume of a future predictor or a person who would be dotted with divine prophetic talent like Samuel, Nathan, and Elijah and so on. We do not ignore that possibility either. However, it is of God to decide how divine gifts must be distributed among those he had chosen.

   In this article, the sentence “raising a child to be a servant for the Lord” means providing the child with proper training (godly wisdom) with the intent to be approved by God to serve Him. It’s also means help acquiring common sense that would enable the child to differentiate the right from wrong, or dotting good judgment. It has been proven that a child that was raised to a life of godly wisdom is more likely to love God, respect people; and less likely to be corrupted by deviated environments. Later in this article, we will explain “godly wisdom”. But now, let’s give you an example about how God judged one of His servants who allowed his children growing astray:

    God had an intense feeling of repugnance for the sons of Eli; who were also priests like their father, though they were not qualified for that divine position because the bible says: “They know not God…” Based on the actions that they were accused of, we can assuming that they were Chronic recidivism, which is a condition attributed to young adults that have been causing troubles throughout childhood, and later on, have become un-responsive to punishments. It is imperative that all members of a Christian’s household know and love God; instead Eli’s children were disrespectful toward God, and immoral/corrupted. In addition to those, “hey were misusing the offerings presented for sacrifice to the Lord;” and involved in sexual immorality “with the women gather together at the door of the Tabernacle” (1Sam.2: 12–22). The rumors of their deviated behaviors were spreads and causing blasphemous conversations all over Israel. As a result, the sons of Eli, including Eli, were stroke by the wrath of God and died the same day.

    Now you’re probably wondering why God had also punished Eli for the crime committed by his sons because it says in Ezekiel 18: 20 “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son…” Eli was not punished for his sons’ iniquities, but for failing to train them to know God, and discipline them when they were younger. Though he was aware of their behaviors, he did nothing to straight them. God accused Eli of loving his children more than God. He said to Eli: “I will honor those that honor me, and despise those that despise me. Many Christian’s parents of this current modern world could find themselves in those same situations.

    How should we train our children with “godly wisdom? there are a variety of ways children can be trained. It would be going too far to state that we have a specific approach, because no two parents raise their child exactly the same way. In this project we will focus on four theories that are generally accepted: Early learning, Education, Communication, & Rules Setting.

    Early learning is one of the most important times period in the training processes, during which parents should begin to fashion a child’s personality to make him/her loved by God and appealing to the society. According to some studies, from ages 2 to 6 children seek knowledge. They see caregivers as role models, and begin to learn from us; their character and personality are beginning to shape by observing and copying everything we’re doing or saying. For instance, if they’re observing us drinking alcohol, smoking, dancing, singing or cursing; they will do likewise. Therefore, the moment that Christian families have decided to bring children to the world, they must also making decision to change their old ways and start living according to God’s ways.

    Education–According to the words of God, parents are suggested to start teaching spiritual values and knowledge to children when they are young (6) through maturity (18).  Values refer to wisdom, which are teaching that enable children differentiate right from wrong. Knowledge means help them knowing God through the practice of reading His Laws (Ex. 20 to 23) during family prayer meetings, Bible studies, and church meetings. WARNING: There has been the spread of a false doctrine trying to misguiding people by telling that the “Ten Commandments” are not applied to Christian churches; they were written only for the Judaic Religion. Please do not follow that type of teaching! Jesus-Christ made it clear that “He did not come to abolish His Father’s commandments but to fulfill all of them” (Matt. 5: 17). In fact, He even upheld some of those laws with additional amendment: one example can be found in Matt. 5: 21, where He says “You have heard that it was said in the ancient laws “thou shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” IMPORTANT: We are suggesting that parents bring children to Christian churches where the language that they can read and understand is spoken. Enable to understand the preachers’ sermons is essential in the process of educating children to know God

      Communication & Setting rules – According to some parents’, after 12 through 18 years their children are stop responding to punishments. It is true in some cases; maybe it’s time to switch to the processes of communication & setting rules. Communication” refers to exchanging ideas, proposing suggestion, and sharing emotions, and avoiding giving commands. All these can only be achieved by inviting God in your home, and creating a friendly relationship with your child; and always support your advises with a Bible verse. Children need to know that they came to the world because God allowed it; and they shall live according to the word of God; and that no one ever disobeys God and get away without punishment, unless they’re repents.

   Setting rules One of the most important factors in training young Christians is keeping them away from the interference of negative forces that usually creating confusion to immature mind. For example, do not let your children playing games that are promoting demonic characters as heroes. Do not allow Christian children watching movies and television programs that are promoting cultish, idolatry, the worship of angels, or any form of worship that is not honoring the name of the Lord our God and His Son Jesus-Christ. Do not allow private TV set in children’s room; have one set of TV in the family room so you can supervise the contents of the programs. Finally, do not allowing “Sleep-over” for two reasons: 1) when you are sleeping in your room you don’t know what is going on between your children and that friend. 2) You know how you’re educating your child, but you don’t know how the friend’s parents are raising him/her. When they grow-up, your children might choose their own ways, but the good seeds you did saw will never completely die.

Laura Pelliton/Zeida

Copy right: © 2019