Day 24: Securing a Generation Through Godly Parenting

Earlier in the month, I had the rare honour of speaking on parenting at a meeting (and I remain grateful to the Young Couples Forum of RCCG, Wolverhampton, England). We think sharing just a snipet from that robust engagement would be useful.  

Parenting can be explained as promoting and supporting a child’s physical, emotional, social, spiritual and cognitive development from infancy to adulthood (Wikipedia). Parenting is not limited to biological parents; in fact, the erstwhile communal parenting that fosters the collective responsibility of raising good children remains the best approach to parenting. Inputs from all the agents of socialisation are required to raise good and godly youngsters - school, church, guilds and faith-based clubs and societies. When Satan wanted to short-change God’s people, he put them in silos, to be labouring in isolation rather than excel on collective strength. The satanic strategy of divide and conquer has a significant impact on 21st-century parenting, and we have to stop him.

So, why is parenting so important?

 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate". Psalms 127 vs 3 – 5

The Psalmist reiterated that children are our heritage in God, our reward (gifts) from God. A mighty man without arrows is like a toothless dog - utterly weak. Where the mighty man cannot get to in the battle, he sends his arrows to wreak havoc on the enemy’s camp and to do exploits in triumph. This is reflected in the prayer of African elders that our children will go farther than us. And, of course, the joy of parents of such excellent children knows no bounds. The recently concluded Olympics is a good example of the joy (not just happiness) that children bring to their parents. The strength, future, godly inheritance, hope and joy of any people are their children. Satan knows these things.

It appears that Satan knows the significance of parenting more than many parents do. Yes, you read that right. Parents who are aware of the significance of the parenting ministry will understand the need to deliberately invest (prayers, money, time, etc.) in their children and be better parents. Parenting is the most important ministry in which any parent can serve God, and you can wring nails on that point. One of Satan’s most potent tactics is keeping parents so busy serving God, ministering on diverse great platforms that they miss out on their parenting ministry. The ageless Mount Zion movie “Busy but Guilty” drove home this point perfectly.

Satan specialises in truncating God’s plans for humanity and with a remarkable appetite for the elect. He knows that our children are our future and legacy – our godly heritage, and just as he desired to waste Apostle Peter (the rock upon whom the Rock would build His church), he remains desperate in his mission to steal, kill and destroy (John 10 vs 10). He knows that if you want to destroy a race or alienate a faith, destroy their children, insidiously but actively. Satan is proactive. We can’t be reactive. In parenting, role modelling the Christian faith is more important than preaching the Christian faith to our youngsters; please bear this in mind always.  

Parenting requires so much dynamism and self-awareness as you and the children traverse different stages of life. Children’s developmental phases are associated with varying requirements. Parenting siblings require different approaches and parenting adult children is also different. So, we can’t afford to be static in our understanding, and we can’t give what we don’t have. The Bible remains the gold standard for Christian parents. So, while we remain dynamic in how we apply parenting, the standard, the landmark and the main principles are unmistakable - the scriptures. In addition, Christian hymns and Christian books and movies are excellent resources. We urge every parent to read Abraham Lincoln’s famous letter to his son’s teacher. So much wisdom from the letter will help to place today’s advocacies for children where they rightfully belong.

© Selah Series 2024