How to bring up Godly children?
When I hear the words Godly children, I imagine joyful children running into the arms of Yeshua. These children knowing, and understanding the love that YeHoVaH has for them and the sacrifice Yeshua made for them. And it makes me ask.
Where would a Godly child come from?
Are we born knowing the love of YeHoVaH in our hearts before it is covered up and replaced with the things we grow up learning?
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way that he should go, and even when he is old, he turns not away from it.
We have all heard this verse, but what does it mean to "train up" a child?
The dictionary defines the word train as
“to teach a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time”
The Strongs concordance defines the word train as
“Chanak - means to train up or dedicate”
The definition of the word dedicate is to
“devote (time,effort, or oneself) to a particular task or purpose”
To train someone takes practice and instruction, which means we have to be doing whatever it is we are training our children to do. We have to be devoted and dedicated to the word of Elohim. We must be a living breathing example that they can look to in order to succeed.
Psalm 127:3
look, children are and inheritance from YeHoVaH, the fruit of the womb is the reward.
and
Proverbs 17:6
Childrens children are the crown of old men, and the adornment of children is their fathers.
Our children are a blessing from Elohim and for him to allow us to train up, teach, instruct or dedicate a whole human being shows that He has faith in us to do what He tells us to do, how He tells us to do it.
YeHoVaH trains us as His children through His word and by divine intervention. He wants us to do the same for the generations to come and tells us we are capable.
Ephesians 6:1
1Children obey your parents in the master for this is right.
2Respect your father and mother which is the first command with promise,
3in order that it might be well with you, and you might live long on the earth
4and you fathers do not provoke your children but bring them up in the instruction and admonition of the master.
The master is Yeshua.
Father gives our children the instruction to obey and respect us as their parents, but in my experience and seeing the lives of those around me, that is a difficult thing to do if that parent is not being a good example for those children to follow. We can not preach the importance of reading the word, but never read it ourselves. Or preach the importance of following the laws of Torah, but we ourselves are not following those same laws.
Once satan creeps in and whispers those words "They don't even do what they ask of you" some children will see the hypocrisy and want nothing to do with it. They'll walk away from the word with the impression you left. It will forever taint what they know of the word and how much they believe. The parent who is not a good example of how to follow YeHoVaH and stand strong in Him no matter the size of the storm, will cause their children to stumble or walk away completely.
Matthew 18:6
But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
So it is a great responsibility and blessing to train up a child in the way of our Elohim, and if we cause the children to stumble, it is a great curse.
Yeshua continues..
7Whoa to the world because of stumbling blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling blocks come,but whoa to that man by whom the stumbling block comes.
8and if your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or crippled rather than having two hands and two feet, to be thrown into the everlasting fire.
9And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be thrown into the fire of GeHinnom.
10See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in the Heavens their messengers always see the face of my father who is in the heavens.
11For the son of Adam has come to save what was lost.
Yeshua warns us that we will have stumbling blocks. This is a warning that we need to take to heart, if we allow those stumbling blocks to trip us up and we cause stumbling blocks for our children, or any child really, it's on us. We are at fault, and we deserve death for that.
We have to be an example even when it's hard. Especially when we are fighting our own flesh, because how else would our children learn to get through those things if not by our example through the word and following Yeshua's example.
In verses 8 and 9 Yeshua is not telling us to mutilate ourselves but to cut off and throw away from us anything and everything that is not of YeHoVaH. If we see these things as not of Him, we should be more than willing to walk far far away from them for the sake of our souls and the souls of our children. Afterall we have been warned. In order to be a good example we have to fight against our flesh every single day and strive to be more like Yeshua. Our children see it all, they hear it all, and they absorb it all.
Galations 5:22
22But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness,
23gentleness and self control, against such things there is no Torah.
24and those who are of Messiah have impaled the flesh with its passions and the desires.
25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
We cannot expect our children to see the Messiah as their savior if we don't even acknowledge Him the way we should. The fruit of the spirit is ours! Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, and self control are all ours to keep! They are a blessing! A gift! And we should fight everyday to earn these blessings.
Matthew 22:37
And Yeshua said to him, you shall love YeHoVaH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind.
If we love Elohim with all that we are then those who are around us, including our children, should be able to see that and hopefully be blessed by it. We cannot love YeHoVaH with all that we are, if we are not giving Him our best effort. He doesn't want half of us or part of us, He wants absolutely every single bit of who we are to be dedicated to Him, why? because He deserves it. He created us and He loves us.
John 14:6
Yeshua said to him "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me."
Yeshua is the son of YeHoVaH, and He will always be our greatest example on earth of how to be a Godly parent and bring up Godly children. Without the love and sacrifice of YeHoVaH through Yeshua we have nothing. Throughout scripture Yeshua shows us how to look to Abba for wisdom in times of trouble, for comfort in times of unrest, and for peace and strength in everything that it takes to walk this walk.
We have to follow the example of Yeshua in order to be an example for anyone else. Our children can be very impressionable, especially in this world today who wants to impress upon our children its ugly unGodly ways.
So how do we bring up Godly children?
We have all had to take our own journey through life to get to where we are with YeHoVaH. How lovely would it be to be brought up with the example of true Elohim fearing believers who help us along the way, with His strength and understanding of the world. What a blessing that would be.