5 Ways To Raise Your Children Positively
Are you struggling with parenting, how to raise your children in to become better adult? Here are 5 ways to raise your children more positively.
Having a well-nurtured children is the desire of most families but it doesn’t come easily, but it can be achieved by the help of God.
I had this challenge too when I started given birth to my young ones.
As a young mom who was not raised in a
Why is it important to have a Christ-centered family? This a questions that people have been
The initial idea of the family system was God’s idea from the beginning of His creation, that man and woman will produce children after their kind and continue in that process.
In the beginning, after God has created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, He created man and woman and commanded them to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it….Genesis 1:28. Discover to Recover shows how you’re loved by God.
In the book Genesis 18:10, we see a picture of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah about giving them a child (Isaac), a family of their own. This clearly shows the importance of the family unit to God, which should be Christ-centered.
The family unit affect all spheres of the human life, which when well centered on Christ improves the lifestyle of the individuals in the family which in effect affects the society and generations unborn.
A Christ-centered family enjoys fellowship and relationship with God, who has pleasure in them, for which reason He created man and woman (Psalm 100:3).
So the family system was initiated by God and for His glory!
He wants to be the Head of every household. Until Christ is made the Head, all attempts to establish a strong family will end in frustration (you’ll labor in vain).
Now, how to bring your family together to understand that Christ is the head of their lives, your home and why it’s important to live to please Him, can sometimes become an issue in most families, especially when He was not introduced in the early stages of their lives.
This was one of the challenges I had to face as a mother myself, trying to make my home Christ-centered and introducing my children to God’s love.
There’s a need to serve the Lord, in this confusing world where a lot of voices, ungodly ideas, and the internet
These are some of the important steps that helped me
1.
God’s original plan for families was for the married couple to have fun and enjoy each other’s company for a lifetime. His intention also was to produce and nurture spiritually and emotionally matured children who will intend get the work of God done on earth.
“Train up a child the way he should go (and in keeping with his individual gift or bent), and when he is old he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22:6.”
The word train up comes from the Hebrew word that describes the palate or roof of the mouth. In order to stimulate a newborn’s sucking reflex, Hebrew midwives would put something sweet in their finger and rub it on the roof of the infant’s mouth in order to train up their nursing instincts.
Likewise, a wise parent is one who uses incentives to stimulate and train up his children toward godliness, creating a hunger in him/her for righteousness and wise living.
Just as an infant never loses the ability to suckle, so a child will not forget the instincts toward godliness, which were stimulated in him/her as a child.
2. Teach your Children the Importance of Quiet Time with God
Teaching your children to know God should begin from the first day you noticed that you’re pregnant and the fetus starts hearing.
Research has shown that around 18 weeks of pregnancy, your little one hears their very first sounds. By 24 weeks, those little ears are rapidly developing. Your baby’s sensitivity to sound will improve even more as the weeks pass.
So this is the perfect time to start having your quiet time with the baby by reading the word to him/her, sharing your understanding of the word and praying together.
And if you’re a new couple expecting your first child, both husband and wife can start your family time with God with him/her by involving him/her.
This creates some kind of bond for the family and the baby.
You don’t stop, you keep doing it after the baby is born and through all the growth stages.
3. Be an Example to Them
Parents are the first role model children encounters and look up to. Model what and who you want your children to be to them. Let them see you first doing what you expect from them.
You don’t tell them to do one thing and you do the opposite. Example is when your children never see you spending time with God but you expect them to do so. If it’s important as you say, why don’t you do it?
Asking them to always tell the truth, but at the same time when a relative you don’t want to talk calls, you tell your child to tell him/her you’re not at home.
It’s important to model the right things
4.
Family values are the spiritual or moral belief that guides the family unit. It can be a legacy of values from grandparents or parents which has been passed down to the next generation.
It can also be parents setting their new set of values for their family, especially when they did not grow up as Christians but now they are Christians and wants to instill Christian values in their children for the next generation.
For the children to remember these values, most homes have it written, framed and hanged at a visible place where everyone can’t avoid of seeing it. Mostly, it is hanged in the dining room, living room and some have it in all the bedrooms.
Not just seeing it, but also reading it and live accordingly!
A vision is preserved so that all who read it will know of its fulfillment. Speak it to get registered on the mind.
The parents constantly remind themselves and their children of these values and also model it for their children to follow their example.
5. Have Bible Studies with your Family
This is an important thing to practice in each family, to sustain the family, the children get a basic understanding of the word of God, and ask their mind bordering questions about the Christian life.
I did not stay under the same roof with my parents because they divorced when I was about a year and half old so I did not experience this togetherness or Bible Study times.
I remember one time when my eldest who is 20 years now was confused about Christianity because he was reading archeology at the University and the lecture said Christianity is just like any other religion and Jesus is not the only way to God.
So my first question was about what Christ meant to him, what we have thought them about God since they were little, and he remembered all that he knew about God and went back to school with a renewed mind.
But when I came to know the Lord and learnt about how God valued the family system, I made up my mind that when I get a family of my own, I will make sure we do Bible Studies.
And I can tell you that, it has really helped us from so many bad behaviors children portray and negative peer pressures from friends, all because they have the word of God as their foundation.
I’m happy he was able to talk to the father and me about his struggles with his faith and the course he was offering at the University.
This is another thing; I encourage you to have a close relationship with your children so that they can talk to you about their struggles rather than getting advice from wrong sources.
Parenting is not an easy task so you need the wisdom of God to help you nurture His gift to you in His own way.
Remember, you’re training the next generation of Reverend Minister, Presidents, Doctors, Nurses, husbands and wives, you name it. So the end result of the children God has entrusted to you depends on how you bring them up.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today, I would love to hear from you on any questions on raising Christ-centered families. Just leave your comment below.
Until next time, live with purpose!
