Wednesday 5 March 2014

Bringing Up Godly Offspring; A Positive Contribution To A Healthy Society

I bless God for the lives of those who have been impacted by my previous post on the importance of raising our children for the Lord. I am sorry if I have to revisit this issue once more before moving on to other aspect of our lives and home.
I must confess that the things I have been reading on the news about the ways and attitude of the youth of this generation has caused a scare in my thinking. I read about a 16year old girl who was stabbed to death on her a way to school by her ex-lover over the fact that she called off a love affair they once had. This I read happened somewhere in Kenya. The first thing that came to my heart is what a 16year old girl needs a lover for at that age. And then the uncontrolled aggression of the so-called lover.
And in my own very own city of Lagos in Nigeria, an 18year old undergraduate was killed in her own residence by a group of boys living within the same area as she was, owing to the fact that she refused to give in to the sexual advances made to her by the boys. And these same boys had the boldness to send a text message to the mother of the girl informing her that they have killed her daughter to teach her a lesson not to be too proud.
These are some of the heart breaking things that are happening around us that has called for parents to wake up from whatever slumber they might be in at the moment and live up to their God assigned responsibility of raising godly offspring that the Lord seeks (Malachi 2:15). It appears that just under our very own eyes the devil is snatching away our children and we are doing very little about it. The new trend of child protection that has totally eroded the use of the rod as a form of discipline might be one of the reasons why we are beginning to have cases as the ones that we have in the world today with regards our children. But with the consciousness that we will surely render account to the Lord over the lives of our children, and the fact we are also mortgaging our own rest in the future requires that we wake and take necessary steps to start to do the needful in raising our children in a godly manner with good moral standard. And if that is all that we are able to contribute to the society that we live in, then we would have done so much in making the world a better place for all to live in.
I am not an advocate or supporter of child abuse, I presently have 3 wonderful children ages between 6-10years and I am expecting the forth in a couple of weeks, so I am too passionate about children. But that said I am also going to live my parental life based on Bible standard. Proverbs 23:13-14 says “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.”
Growing up for me was with stern discipline. I was not abused, but I must confess that stern discipline was not lacking in my parent’s dictionary. It was not easy at the time for all six of my mother’s children because my mum was a strict disciplinarian. We took the cane when required. In fact I must say that at some point growing up I concluded my mother was actually not my mother because she was too much of her disciplinarian for my comprehension. But today at over 40years of age, I bless God that I was trained in such a manner because it really helped build my moral values and that of my siblings. My mother is a joyful woman today advancing well into old age and happy that she has six wonderful children who are today her best friends and confident. Above all she knows so well that she is loved.
Just before I close up on this blog post, I came across a report both on the news and as a post on Google+ and I can’t help but make reference to it. It’s about an 18year old girl suing her parents for not paying for her upkeep and sending her out of the house. The parents on their own part claimed the girl moved out of the house voluntarily because she would not live by their rules or do any house chores. Interestingly the parents of the friend of the girl are sponsoring the court case between the girl and her parents. I have read a lot of comments on the google+ post blaming the situation on bad parenting, and some are of the opinion that the father might be too strict to warrant the girl’s behaviour. Although most of the comments didn’t go so deep because of lack of full knowledge of the background story of the family. But what I applaud so far is the ability of the judge to recognize the disrespect shown by the girl towards her parents and the ripple effects the case will have on the society, as children will now be at liberty to sue their parents for every flimsy excuse.
In as much as I will not exonerate the parents off faulty upbringing, still I will say that no child is above rebuke by his/her parents at whatever age they might have attained. In Job 1:1-7, we see the father Job purifying his children even when they were old and already living in their individual homes. Job understand that at whatever age his children had attained he still held the responsibility to ensure that they lived right before God.

1 Samuel 3:11-14
And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family - from beginning to end. For I told him that I will judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, “The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”

The sons of Eli were no small boys, they were not toddlers or teenagers yet the Lord expects that Eli should restrain his sons from wrong doing. The Lord had warned Eli once and it was just time to punish the family. The sins committed where not by Eli as a prophet, but by his sons. The only sin committed by Eli was his inability to restrain his sons from wrong doing. So if a father thinks within himself that although he had initially failed in his parenting responsibility but now it's time to right his wrongs, then I applaud such a father. If an 18year old child is all of a sudden too old to live by instruction then she should be ready to live by the consequences.
I am of the mindset that a combination of discipline and love produces the best desired results in bringing up godly offspring, but removing the element of discipline and strict discipline when the need arises from the ingredients of parenting is acting in error. My children holds a major priority in my life and that of my husband's. We love them dearly and by the grace of God we ensure they don't lack the things they need and even want. We strive hard to provide their needs and wants but still make sure they are well disciplined. I have adopted a formula for my own children and I am trusting God that it produces good result. And that is: If I correct them over a wrong doing by word of mouth once and again, then on the third occasion of a re-occurrence of that same wrong doing I correct them with my cane and I make it a point of duty to make them understand why they are been caned.  
I will warn parents not to take out their frustrations on their children, and also to discipline their children with caution and with much love keeping in mind that the purpose of the discipline is to make the child a better individual rather than to destroy or harm the child. When this is the focus of discipline, then it is applied appropriately and correctly.  
In closing, I will say this: If we cannot contribute anything to the society, we will be making a very big and major impact in the world we live in by the quality of the children we produce for the society. If we all cannot be big role models in the society, we can be major contributors to a better society via the little things we do in the confines of our homes, lives, children and family.

You can get copies of my books in print and kindle format on amazon website via the provided links. I assure you of a refreshing knowledge of God's word as you get copies for yourself and loved ones. I am excited to inform you that for any of the under-listed books you buy on amazon website you get a free kindle copy of the same book, so hurry and get both the print copy and kindle copy just at the price of one. 

Print Copy: http://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Rules-Engagement-Aderinsola-Obasa/dp/9789238045/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391979264&sr=1-2&keywords=Marriage%3A+God%27s+Rules+of+Engagement

https://www.createspace.com/4309313

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00HGHVPOU









Print Copy: http://www.amazon.com/Gleanings-Throne-God-Aderinsola-Obasa/dp/1490497455/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391978770&sr=1-1&keywords=Gleaning+From+the+throne+of+God

https://www.createspace.com/4330620

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00DKYKPKS









Print Copy: http://www.amazon.com/Stressless-Toil-Aderinsola-Obasa/dp/978931180X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391978664&sr=1-1&keywords=Stressless+Toil

https://www.createspace.com/4424550

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00IRFF960












Print Copy: http://www.amazon.com/Covenant-God-Aderinsola-Obasa/dp/9789311834/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391979535&sr=1-1&keywords=Covenant+of+God
   
https://www.createspace.com/4636178

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00I1W8WRW









Print Copy: http://www.amazon.com/Because-Lord-Seeks-Godly-Offspring/dp/9789311818/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394195129&sr=1-1&keywords=Because+The+Lord+Seeks+Godly+Offspring

https://www.createspace.com/4352171

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00DW8E3O6

No comments:

Post a Comment

Why Do We Worship God

Many people feel like they should only praise God when they have received a blessing from God. Honestly, I was in that category too, so I am...