CHILDREN ARE A BLESSING

In Psalm 127:3 it says children are an inheritance from the LORD. They are a reward from him.

Every time I sit at my computer I am reminded of this verse as my desktop is a photo of my four grandchildren. They are all girls and I call them my little angels as you can see from the photos on my blog.

I can remember the time when parents had children because they wanted to and they accepted all that this involved.

Today, society has lost the plot entirely on this one.

First of all, the government pays people to destroy their babies if they are problematic like one lady who said having a baby would interfere with her netball training.

Second, children are a monetary decision. Can I afford to have children and if not, I will have to forgo having children. Regardless of income, you can always afford children if you love them and see them as a treasure.

Third, children have been sacrificed on the altar of parental career. Because this comes first, children are dumped in surrogate care in childcare centres. No wonder we have an epidemic of an ‘orphans spirit’ as children feel abandoned by their parents.

Fourth, we have this idea that if you give your children things, they will be happy.

Fifth, Satan has convinced us that children will cope with divorce so don’t worry about breaking up your marriage to pursue another wife or husband.

Sixth, we have accepted that children have more rights than parents. As a result we cannot tell them what to do.

Seventh, the previous one has resulted in most boundaries being removed so children are free to do what they want. After all, if I don’t allow them to they might hate me. What we haven’t learnt is that they will hate you more for letting them do as they please.

Eighth, we have this misguided idea that physical punishment is assault and produces violent children. The fact that for the last one, two, three, four or 500 hundred years children have been physically punished and they haven’t turned into violent children or adults seems to have escaped the attention of society.

Ninth, we have failed to understand that the best nurturing environment for a child is in a home with a married mum and dad. As a result we celebrate the bringing of children into the world without a father.

Tenth, those in society like James Dobson of Focus on the Family who are fierce advocates for a fair go for children and their right to a mum and dad are violently attacked for such outmoded ideas and for opposing any kind of relationship between any Tom, Dick, and homosexual.

No wonder that we have so many screwed up kids, high suicide rates amongst teenagers, increasingly violent children, children out of control, and arrogant and disrespectful children.

It all says that they are screaming out to be allowed to be children again with parental love and care and to be told what they can and cannot do and not to be left to their own devices. Instead, society’s answer is drugs to calm them and to ‘talk to them’ to make them see reason.

God knows better than anyone what a child needs. That is why he said the rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding; he that spares the rod hates his son; foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of correction shall drive it far from him; withhold not correction from the child, if thou beat him with the rod he will not die; thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell; the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother.

These words of wisdom sound pretty conclusive to me. We ignore them at our peril. Loving parents who give loving correction are a recipe for success in bringing up children. When these two are combined, children are a fantastic reward.

As a word of warning, I saw a parent who was interviewed about her son and she said she never punished him. She preferred to talk to him and verbally encourage good behaviour. Her son was now 18 and she was asked what he was like. “A complete monster. He thinks the world revolves around him.”