Blessings of Children

Children are one of the surest blessings from God (Psa. 127:3).  As God is life and He commanded Adam and Eve to multiply in order to fill the earth and subdue it, children represent one of the oldest promises and mandates of God: fecundity and life.  Children also add colorfulness, complexity, responsibility, and challenge to life, particularly for the parents and communities that raise them.

Rearing children has been one of the primary roles and goals of humans since the beginning of time.  It is an involved and demanding endeavor; as the old adage goes: it takes a village to raise a child.  All this being true, there are some Scriptural principles in regards to raising children.  In chronological importance, as well as in practical significance, the first point to be made in reference to children is training.

When Moses delivered his final sermons to the wandering Israelites on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from the Promised Land, he told them, commanded them to diligently teach their children all that God had done for them and all that the Lord required of them (Deut. 4:9-10; 6:7; 11:19).  This is an essential component of biblical child rearing.

Additionally, when we teach children, we bless them with future blessings that will meet them in their adult years (Prov. 22:6).  In other words, the wealth of teaching children the ways of the Lord has lifelong ramifications.  This means that, although some may walk away from the faith, particularly in their early 20's, if they have been taught proper doctrine as children, it may come back to them and guide their lives as adults.

However, teaching is not enough, it must be met with discipline.  Discipline is a purposed and direct training in righteousness.  Although the reality of discipline has an element of subjugation, like the bridle of a horse.  It is never meant to be harsh or mean-spirited but always corrective and purposeful.  The Scripture is clear that discipline, in the form of admonishment and rebuke, is an essential and wholly beneficial component of raising children (Pro. 22:6; 29:17).  The reality is that discipline conveys the gravity of God's righteousness and His holy character in a way that teaching alone cannot.

Again, children are a distinct blessing from the Lord but are also one of the surest responsibilities and most thorough tests of humanity's ability to pass on the revelations of God that He has passed to us.  Christianity is just one generation away from extinction.  The soberness of this assertion is striking as well as convicting.  In a real sense, every Christian is responsible to raise the next generation of believers.  Thanks be to God that He would entrust such an important task to us, but also, thanks that He would provide us all the resources required to get the job done!