Are We Protecting Our Kids

As a parent raising kids in this date and age I want to make sure that my kids (they are not kids anymore) feel safe. In my constant search for tools to achieve that goal, I came across this information, I pray it helps you. We as parents must ask ourselves some questions and be honest in our answers. For example, how is it going with our kids? Do they feel safe with us? More importantly, do they feel protected?

* From the “bully” down the street…
* From the fear of failure…
* From peer pressure…
* From the daily evil in their lives…

In today’s world we want to protect our kids from ALL of the pain life often delivers. But we can’t. However, we, as moms and dads, can be a place they can run to. We can be their refuge. Our kids can feel safe. They can feel protected. And understand this spiritual phenomenon, we are an EXAMPLE to them of the protection found in their Heavenly Father. The pattern we set with them as they grow up, directly affects how they will relate to God throughout their whole lives. The degree of intimacy that we establish with our kids now, directly affects the level of intimacy they will have with their Heavenly Father for years and years to come.

I am convinced this is what Solomon meant in Proverbs 22:6… “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it”. It is not so much about discipline as it is about relationship. The relationship they have with us will be mirrored in the relationship they have with God. The quality of our relationship, I believe, also directly impacts the effectiveness of our discipline strategy. Show me a home where all you do is discipline, and I will show you a home that has lost relationship.

This week as we interact with our kids lets commit to pray over them. Pray with them. Listen to them. Laugh with them. Spend time with them. Show them we care. Let them know that they are important. That they matter. And as we do this, they will hunger and thirst for relationship, with us, and more importantly, with God…

Source:AACC.