RESPONSIBILITY

I am deeply privileged to be responsible for nurturing the lives of 6 wonderful young people, my children. Four daughters and two sons.

As parents we have our children with us for quite a short time of their entire lives. During that time we hope to provide them some guidance to help and enable them to live out the rest of their lives, to make informed decisions and ultimately as Christians we hope that they find a pathway to the saving grace that comes from knowing Jesus.

I have heard many quotations concerning children during my lifetime:

“Children should be seen and not heard”

“Spare the rod and spoil the child”

“Like mother, like daughter and similarly like father like son”

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them”

And there are those from scripture:

Proverbs 22 vs. 6

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it”

I Timothy 4 v 12

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (as I posted in last month’s blog).

And there are many more.

A short while ago I was reading Proverbs chapter one and came across these verses on which I have pondered for a while:

Proverbs 1 vs. 8 & 9:

“My child, listen when your father corrects you, don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck”

So the emphasis shifts from focusing in the “child” and turns the focus on us as parents and guardians of the young. The instruction may be to “the child” but the responsibility is clearly placed at the feet of parents. The child is told “what they learn” is important and will be a focal point of their future, this “chain of honour”

As always this led me to thinking about what “chain” my children would see. And it led me further into fully appreciating that EVERYTHING I do has an impact on how they will live in the future. What they see “behind closed doors” is the “real” me, “warts and all”. They see me happy, sad, angry and glad. They have a first hand view of how I react and deal with everything that comes our way weather that, in our eyes, is something good or something bad. They also see how I behave towards other people and how I talk about and treat other people.

So as is often the case I reflected how this passage could apply to us all, parents or not. I realise it specifically mentions mother and father, but I also see the focus is for the child to be guided, and obviously the role of the parent is absolutely key in developing this.

However as a body of God’s people we all have a role to play in developing and nurturing the young. And right now I am not simply talking about age, but about spiritual maturity too. How each and every one of us reacts to each other, with those within the “family” of God and those who are outside of the “family” is absolutely crucial in the development of the “young”. New Christians are like children regardless of age in that they will look around and observe how those of us who are slightly more mature in our faith behave, and will reflect that behaviour.

So please just allow me a little “poetic” licence and adjust that verse in Proverbs slightly (retaining the emphasis of the passage):

“Young Christian, listen when those in leadership correct you, don’t neglect your fellow Christians example. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck”

Children, young people and new Christians need solid role models, they need good examples and they can only come from the people they surround themselves with, be that birth parents or be that fellow Christians.

Jesus was our role model, our example, and we are told to reflect His image.

If I thought I had responsibilities before, now this passage in Proverbs has made me realise more than ever that we all have a responsibility as we live out our lives each and every day.

I pray that Daddy God gives me the strength to reflect Jesus in a positive way so that I do not cause my child, or a brother or sister to slip up because of what they have seen me do.

Amen and God Bless