One of our Faith Church stewardship principles is: “God owns everything. I own nothing.” We think of this principle as applied to our “stuff” but what about applying this principle to people? For example, what about applying this principle to parents in relationship to their God-given children?
Psalm 127:3-5 affirms the blessing of children as gifts from the Lord:
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (ESV)
Gifts are not required so God may not bless every parental couple with biological children. Adoption may be the only option for some parents but what a wonderful option it is! We are adopted into the family of God!
While the passage above teaches us that children do bless their parents, the mindset must be that parents exist as ambassadors of God to demonstrate His love before their children and “to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” according to Eph. 6:4. Parents do not control their children’s eternal destination but have a huge responsibility as stewards to point children toward a loving, forgiving Heavenly Father.
One problem today is that too many parents today think that they own their children and that their children exist primarily to please them. This is not the case and may lead to frustration when those children reject their love and are rebellious. Instead, a biblical mindset is that parents exist to train, teach, and instruct offspring for God’s purposes. These children are the “property of God” not the parents: parents are merely “stewards” or “managers” NOT owners.
God is the original Owner of a child. He alone created that child for His own glory. Parents exist to train the child to know Him understanding that God alone grips the human heart and illuminates one’s understanding to know Him. God has given the responsibility to parents to point their children to Christ by faithfully teaching the Word and praying with and for those little souls.
We, Parents, need to have a mindset that we exist for our children rather than a mindset that our children are here to please or entertain us. Ultimately, when parents train up their children well and God blesses those efforts by His amazing grace, the children will become like arrows in the hand of a warrior (Ps. 127:4) against the powers of darkness bringing hope to a lost and dying world.
Join in the conversation with us by sharing a story with us now about how God is using you and/or your offspring to spread the Gospel to others!
-Pastor Shaw (desiring to be a faithful steward of what God has given)
For further study, Addiction-Proof Parenting by Pastor Mark Shaw is available as an Amazon Kindle e-book. It has also been translated into Korean, too.