Main Summary: Raising Godly Children by Faith Oyedepo is a guide for parents on how to raise children that are obedient, responsible, and godly. The book emphasizes the need for parents to realize that their children belong to God and they have a responsibility to train them according to God’s will. The author provides insights on how to meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of children while setting a good example for them to follow. The book is a call for parents to invest time, resources, and the Word of God in raising their children.
Lessons You’ll Learn From This Post
1. Children are God’s not Yours
2. Raising Your Children Spiritually & Psychologically
3. Raising Your Children Emotionally
4. Raising Your Children to Meet Physical Needs
5. Raising Teenagers
6. Raising Children Through Discipline
7. Dealing With the Siege of Barrenness
Children are God’s not Yours
As a parent, you need to realize that your children do not belong to you, but to God. According to the author, “God commands you to train up your children, and He also supplies you with the grace required for the assignment.” Therefore, training your child is not optional, but a must-do for every parent. However, it is a process that takes time, and you must be diligent in doing it.
To be successful in raising godly children, the author states that you must be observant, knowing your children’s friends and their track records before them. Also, you must set a good example for your children to follow. According to the author, “an ounce of example is worth a ton of preaching.”
The author emphasizes that training a child to be godly is a seed with promises of great reward. It is better to train a child than to repair an adult. Therefore, as a parent you should invest the Word of God in the lives of your children, making it the first thing they hear in the morning and the last thing at night. In doing so, the author acknowledges that you will reap joy, peace, and fulfillment in later years
Also Read How to Find Follow Fulfill God’s Will By Andrew Wommack [Summary]
Raising Your Children Spiritually & Psychologically
As a parent, you have a vital responsibility to fashion your children into obedient, faithful, and responsible adults. “Children of Christian parents are described as ‘arrows’,” says the author, “well-fashioned children in the hands of God are lethal weapons for destroying the works of the devil and establishing God’s dominion on the earth.” In order to do this, you must equip your children with the Word of God and create in them a hunger for it. “The absence of this hunger for God is what makes children wayward,” warns the author.
Raising godly children is a joint responsibility of both father and mother. “Time is a very important thing you should invest in your children, not only money,” advises the author. Fathers must not neglect their children, and mothers must use wisdom to get their husbands to create time for the children. According to the author, the greatest legacy you can leave for your children is a good and sound Christian upbringing, not material possessions.
You can begin to shape the life and destiny of your children right from the womb by confessing the Word of God over them. The author notes that raising godly children can either be an exciting adventure or a terrible burden, depending on your perspective.
Humans are tripartite beings, with spiritual, emotional, and physiological needs that must be met. As a parent you should consciously create time for fun and laughter in the family, as this creates an air of excitement in the home, making raising godly children fun and a thing of joy.
She highlights several spiritual needs of children, including developing a personal relationship with Jesus, being baptized with the Holy Spirit, developing Christian character, understanding God’s will for their lives, and finding a place of service.
To meet these spiritual needs, as parents you should invest the Word of God into your child, as the author defines it as the most powerful instrument to mold character.
Raising Your Children Emotionally
To meet your child’s emotional needs, you need to talk to them and answer their questions. According to the author, parents should study their children and know their temperaments, moods, likes, and dislikes. It is important to discover your child’s talents and abilities and believe in them, as this helps to develop their confidence. Lavish praise on your child and reward good habits with praise. It is also important to watch out for bad attitudes in children, as this can affect the atmosphere of the whole house.
As a parent, you should teach your children to work together and learn to be each other’s keepers to avoid sibling rivalry or animosity. Let your child know that they have access to you and can come to discuss anything that’s on their mind anytime. Avoid labeling your child with negative names, as this can stick with them for the rest of their lives. Teach them about sex and explain the changes that are taking place in their bodies. Encourage them to keep Christian friends and always present them before God’s throne for protection.
The author advises that when your child reaches their teenage years, they will want independence and to prove themselves as adults. Give them a chance and teach them to depend on God. Prepare your child for what to expect in campus life and encourage them to seek God’s perspective on issues. She adds that you buy Christian videos, books, and music and prevent your child from participating in unedifying activities in school.
Raising Your Children to Meet Physical Needs
As a parent, you have a responsibility to cater to your child’s physical needs. According to Maslow (an American psychologist), this includes the need for food, clothing, and shelter. The author emphasizes the importance to supervise your child’s feeding habits and ensure they are eating nutritious foods. As the author says, “sweets, ice-cream, meat pies, burgers, biscuits, etc. are not real food, and are not nutritious.”
In addition to providing for their basic needs, it’s important to teach your children good habits and responsibility. As the author says, “children need to be taught how to be diligent, not lazy and irresponsible.” This includes personal cleanliness and proper time management. “Cultivating these habits takes a process of time, so the author advises to be patient with your children.”
The author stressed the importance to encourage your child’s dreams and talents, rather than trying to mold them into your own image. “Don’t try to pour your children into your mold,” says the author. “God may have an altogether different plan for them.”
Teaching your children about financial responsibility is also crucial. This includes earning and saving money, as well as giving back through offerings and tithes. “Teach your children to spend only whatever money is available and at their disposal,” advises the author. “Encourage your children to buy gifts for others; that way, you will destroy selfishness in them.”
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Raising Teenagers
In understanding teenagers, the author emphasizes that the key to dealing with teenagers is knowledge and understanding. She advises you as a parent to go beyond being just parents and become friends with your teenagers so that they can open up and confide in you.
The author describes adolescence as the period between childhood and adulthood, and puberty is when the sexual organs and reproductive system begin to develop. Girls begin puberty between 10 and 11 years old, and boys at 12. She notes that the changes that occur during adolescence are both physical and emotional, with the sexual appetite growing stronger in both sexes.
The author emphasizes the importance of teaching your teenage children to control their sexual desires and understand that sexual desire should be expressed only within marriage.
She advises you as a parent to help your teenagers decide to preserve their bodies for their marriage partner and be careful about what they watch on TV, and read, and the kind of friends they keep. She says, “Let them know that control of such desires has its rewards. It produces a wonderful and successful marriage later in life.”
Raising Children Through Discipline
Discipline is an important part of raising godly children and should involve both physical and spiritual means. The author suggests that the spiritual rod, which is the Word of God, is the most effective tool for discipline because it can penetrate deeper into the soul and spirit than the physical rod.
She recommends that as a parent you should use the spiritual rod more than the physical one and make sure to explain to the child why discipline is necessary. The author advises that prayer is an essential part of discipline, as it softens the child’s heart and gives parents grace and wisdom.
She emphasizes that discipline should be done out of love and that control and love must be applied to instill discipline via the rod and prayer. Additionally, the author suggests that as a parent you should admit your mistakes and be respectful to your children
Also Read When Am I Ready by Kingsley Okonkwo [Summary]
Dealing With The Siege of Barrenness
Do you desire to have children and are struggling with infertility? The author reminds you that as a child of God, you are entitled to the blessing of children, no matter what doctors may say. The devil may have stolen something from you, but you can catch him and make him pay back by believing and declaring the Word of God.
The author emphasizes that if you are serving God, you cannot remain barren. Owing to the fact that throughout scriptures, God always intervened in the lives of those who served Him and were initially called barren. She encourages you to go for the light of God’s Word to overcome the darkness of barrenness. Keep declaring the Word until your situation changes.
As the author says, “If you want to see the barren situation in your life change, you must rise and fight back with the Word of God. No matter what the devil has stolen from you, you can get it back.”
In conclusion, raising godly children is a crucial task that requires the joint effort of both the mother and father. Parents need to observe their children, set a good example, invest in the Word of God, and meet their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.
The author emphasizes the importance of treating children as arrows fashioned by God to establish His dominion on earth. It is essential to build a strong foundation for children and develop a hunger for God in them, starting from the womb. Raising godly children is an exciting adventure entirely that requires time, diligence, patience, and a reliance on God’s grace.
Finally, here are some questions we’ll love you to answer.
Do you believe that your children belong to you or God? How can this perspective affect the way you raise them?
Also, What are some practical steps you can take to invest the Word of God in the lives of your children and create a hunger for it in them?
We would love to hear from you, please leave your answers and comment in the comment box below.
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