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Are you aware that when we as parents fail to heed God’s Word, it affects our children?

Hosea 4:6 . . .  You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children.

This may not sound quite fair of our loving God, but God knows what is best for us and our children and He wants us to desire Him above all, if only for our children’s sakes.

Deuteronomy 5:29 “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be will with them, and with their children for ever!”

Feel God’s agonizing to get people to obey His Word because He knows it is for their good and the good of their children.

Catherine Marshall in her book, Something More,  writes, “We are accustomed to the idea that we pass on to our children a physical inheritance – color of eyes, color of hair, even certain diseases: tendencies toward gout, diabetes, certain skin diseases. Handing down a material inheritance is such standard practice that the laws of every country make careful provisions governing wills, probate, death, and inheritance taxes.  It soon became apparent that just as we can inherit either a fortune or debts, so in the spiritual realm we can inherit either spiritual blessings or those liabilities (unabashedly called ‘sins’ in scripture) that hinder our development into mature persons.  These blessings do not come to us solely by heredity.  Obviously they are also passed on by example and by teaching – conscious or unconscious.”

Andrew Murray in How to Raise Your Children for Christ wrote: “Education consists not so much in what we do or say but most of all in what we are; and that not only when our children are of an age to see and judge but long before, even before their birth.”

Seeing how we so affect our children’s lives, we should take inventory of our spiritual lives:

1.  Have you accepted Christ as Savior of your life?

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

2.  Are you confessing known sin daily?

Psalm 19:12:  “…cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

I John 1:9:  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

3.  Do you value God’s Word in your life?

Job 23:12
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

4.  Are you spending time alone with God in prayer?

Mark 1:35:  “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He (Jesus) went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (If this were important in Jesus’ life, how much important is it for us?)

I highly recommend How to Raise Your Children for Christ to help you see how important your relationship with God is in the life of your child.

Deut. 6:7
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You can’t expect a young child to sit down for very long in order to teach him. His attention span is about a minute for each year of his life.   That’s why you have to catch teaching moments like this verse says – while you sit, walk, lie down, rise up.

A walk around the block can become a lesson on safety and obedience by holding an adult’s hand in traffic. It also is an opportunity to sing about and thank God for His beautiful world.

Blowing bubbles affords the opportunity to sing “Jesus’ love just bubbles me over.”

Playing ball allows the teaching of concepts of up and down and the idea of sharing.

Picking up trash can be a lesson on helping and caring about those who come after you.

Here a little, there a little – teaching time is any time . . . and it’s fun!!

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.

Deut. 4:9 “But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the Lord do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

Did you or your children ever wonder why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?    I’m not sure what lies behind some of the traditions associated with the day, but the man that the holiday is named for has a story children need to hear.

Did you know Patrick isn’t Irish? He was born into a wealthy English family about 385 A.D. He died on March 17, 461.  When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave where he worked as a shepherd.  During this time he was lonely and afraid; this caused him to turn to God with his whole heart.  After about 6 years as a slave, Patrick escaped and began studying to be a priest.

However, he did not forget Ireland; he had a desire to go back one day and tell them about Jesus.  He did eventually return there as a missionary.  Isn’t that amazing that he would want to go back to the place where he had been enslaved and tell them of God’s love?  What an act of forgiveness! Eventually Patrick was called a saint by the Catholic Church because of his love and kindness to the people of Ireland.

It is believed that Patrick brought the shamrock plant to Ireland and used the three-leafed plant to illustrate the message of the Trinity. This would be a good time to teach about the Trinity.  Click here for help in sharing the concept with your children.  A good children’s book to illustrate the Trinity is 3 in 1: A Picture of God.

Go outside and look for clover and talk about the Trinity; be like St. Patrick teaching the Irish.

Click here for a shamrock craft.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from God; they are his reward.

It seems in every disappointment in my life, God has always used children to lighten my heart.

In this video, a baby is laughing hysterically at ripping paper.  The amazing thing is the paper being ripped is a job rejection letter the dad had just received.  How good is God to cause the baby to be so amused by the ripping of the paper and thus bring such enjoyment to the dad in the midst of his difficult situation!

Now click here, listen to this song by The Oak Ridge Boys, and ‘Thank God For Kids’!  Children truly are a gift from Him!