| By Salome Jerince |
Parenting is hard. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.
Our world today is filled with unsolicited advice from every nook and corner. We are living in an age of information overload where it’s quite easy to feel overwhelmed. We have virtual gurus offering parenting gyan, momfluencers setting the motherhood standards, an abundance of parenting books with contradicting information and last but not the least, friendly advice from our kith, kin and the occasional stranger.
The only constant, amidst all this chaos, is the Word of God. Though people might change their tune and books might get updated over time, the parenting advice from God remains forever true, forever relevant and forever the same. It is a source of comfort and encouragement to weary and confused parents.
Children are God’s gifts to us and He has given us everything we need to be the right parents to them.
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” - Deut 6:4 & 5.
The Bible not only instructs us to follow these commands but to actively teach them to our children. It the biggest gift we can give them, the greatest legacy we can pass on. It needs to be impressed upon their hearts. They need to see it continuously played out in our homes and understand that it is the way of life. If this foundation is strong, they can stand firm when tempted by the many Gods of this world and will always strive to love and serve the Lord.
“If you want your children to grow up in a Christian home, make sure Christ is at home” - a quote from the sermon that keeps replaying in my mind. In our quest to become great parents, let us not make the mistake of removing God from the equation. Being a parent is our God given responsibility and as faithful stewards, we need to ask Him for grace, wisdom and strength to do it right.
With this as our constant prayer, with Christ as the centre of our lives, we can prepare our children to bravely face tomorrow and be salt and light wherever they go.