Childhood. The innocent, vulnerable, pliable stage of life. Long days of play. Laughter. Snacks. Lots of snacks. Childhood is a time of discovery and learning. Words are learned and carefully repeated until they are sounded out correctly. Personal feelings are discovered. Social manners and actions are developed. The mind is constantly storing away information that will develop and grow a child.
To me as a parent, and in a lot of ways, still feeling like a child myself, parenting can look like an enormous task. I have been given a great responsibility. Not only to teach them social skills, how to read, and how to dress themselves, but most importantly to teach them the ways of the Lord.
- how to have quiet time and listen to the voice of God
- to be thankful in all things
- to honor God by obeying
- having a humble and giving spirit
Those are just a few. I’m learning that while it can be easy and fun to flood my children’s minds with charts of shapes, alphabet flashcards, discovering colors and learning to read, those things aren’t nearly as valuable as learning the ways of God. A child could be a pure genius but without Jesus residing in his heart, all of his intellect is meaningless in the end. Not that academics or social manners isn’t valuable in life, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m only saying that for me, at least, my greatest focus of teaching should be about Jesus so that when our children grow up in the knowledge of the Lord, then they can go out, they can touch lives and they through the Spirit can bring people to know Christ. To me, that’s a lot more important than a list of collage degrees.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. -Psalms 111:10
3 Comments
Amen, sweet Crystal!
Right on, without wisdom, knowledge is severely limited in potential.
Your post is “right” on!!