Text:                Hebrews 12: 5 – 7

By:                   Godwin Nene

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Introduction: Forty years ago, many, everyone wanted to have children, but today many are afraid of having children.

Forty years ago, children respected their parents, but today parents have to respect their children.

Definition: A parents is a father or mother who gave birth to a child either biological, nurtures, adoption or raises; a relative can also plays the role of a parents.

Anyone who plays the role of guardian can also be referred to as a parent. And the major role of such individuals is to be parenting by providing guardian for children.

As a parent it’s important to note that you have a very big responsibility to play in bringing up our children/wards. Those responsibilities include the provision of basic needs like shelter, food, discipline, clothing, education, nurturing etc. But along the lines some parents especially fathers do the mistake of living such responsibilities for their children and their mother which is so bad and supposed not to be. I am telling you in no distance time such parents will be faced with different challenges, because those children are already taking care of their selves and this will be putting the entire community and the family in dangers of social variances. It’s only about 15% of such children will really have the fear of God, while the larger percentage of them will fall into one of the below categories:

• Disrespectful children
• Drug addict
• Arm robbery
• Yahoo/ritualistic/cultist
• Street fighters
• Rapist

Let’s see some of the reasons while some parents are behaving this way:

• You can’t give what you don’t have
• Maybe such parents struggle to survive
• Parents afraid of today’s cultural stigma against discipline
• Parents can’t bear to cause any pain. There are other ways to get through to a child.
• It’s enough simply try to reason with a child. Therefore, there’s no need for physical discipline. Give a child time, sooner or later he/she will come around and respond positively.
• Children are basically good and will grow out of their state of rebellion. Just give them time.
• Discipline is barbaric and crude of dark age thinking.
• My wife and I don’t agree on how to discipline, so we don’t. I trust hope things will turn out okay.
• I don’t know how to discipline. I am afraid, I will do it wrong and damage my little one’s mental state. Confrontation is not my thing; I will let my wife and the teacher at school deal with my kids’ behavioural issues.
• I am not sure I agree with or understand what the Bible says about this matter of discipline.
• I am too busy to bother with the children. I will let my wife deal with discipline issues. She can do it better.

Your children have one command, HONOR, but they need to be trained so as to see obedience as a key element of who they are as your child and a child of God. And this is the hard part. You as parents are commanded by God to discipline and correct your children so that they can learn obedience. Although there a lot of child abuse in the name of discipline, I am not talking about such discipline where parents will put pepper in the eyes and private parts of their children, such actions can leads to blindness and the rest. But if listen to the words of God properly and walking by His spirit, you will apply discipline in a proper and loving manner.

Here’s more of what God’s word has to say:

• Proverbs 13:24 – He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
• Proverbs 19:18 – Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
• Proverbs 22:15 – Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
• Proverbs 23:13-14: – Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

• Proverbs 29:17 – Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

If you refused to discharge your responsibility as a parent, the repercussions are enormous and demoralising:

• Such children will not care for their parents at old age
• Such children will not have respect for their parents.
• Such children will be looking at their parents as liability.

Conclusion: Now we are a new creature according to the word of God and we are advised to train up a child in the way they will grow, so that he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22: 6.

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