What Are Your Goals for Your Children?

What will make you feel successful as a parent? And how do you intend to reach your goals?

If your children get good jobs or even become wealthy, would you be satisfied? If they are popular and have many friends, is that what you want? Would it please you if they become influential civic leaders or politicians? Or would you be happy if they just grow up to be good citizens, have good health, good families, and live like most middle-class Americans? What do you really want for your children?

Suppose they achieve all these things. Matthew 16:26 says: "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" If your children do not learn to serve God so they die unprepared to face eternity, would you really be successful as a parent?

In Genesis 18:19 God said that He would bless Abraham, because He knew Abraham would "command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice..." Would God say this about the way you train your children? If just one of your children were to face eternal condemnation because you neglected to teach them about God's will, what worse fate could they suffer?

What should you do to prepare your children, not just for this life, but for eternity? Proverbs 22:6 says: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

For further study I encourage the reader to go to www.gospelway.com/instruct/ and study our online article about Biblical principles for raising godly children.

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(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 2/5/2005