Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” (Rom. 12:9).
READ: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
In raising your children in God’s way, you must teach them to seek after Him. As long as they seek Him, they shall never know lack. In addition, teach your children to appreciate good things from a tender age. There is a spiritual law known as the law of transformation. It simply says that whatever you admire is what you will likely become. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”. If you like something, you will devote more of your time to it, and after a while, it will begin to influence you. What are your likes and dislikes? If you like the wrong things, you will end up doing them. Elisha appreciated God’s grace on Elijah to the point of having a double portion of it. What you appreciate is what you will follow. Joshua appreciated God’s wisdom and power in the life of Moses. Shortly before his death, Moses transferred the same Spirit of wisdom to him. It is what your child appreciates in you that he or she will most likely receive. What is in you that is worth emulating?
When I was very young, a particular teacher came to teach in the village school I attended. He came with a younger relative of his. He virtually quarreled on a daily basis with his ward for refusing to read his books. One day, while flogging the boy for not reading his books, the boy asked him: “Why are you flogging me? I have told you I don’t want to read”. “If so, what do you want to become in life?”, the teacher asked. “I want to be a truck pusher” he replied. With that reply, the teacher saw the futility of forcing him, so he sent him packing. What do your children think about or focus on? What do you teach them to appreciate? Also, in determining what a child appreciates, it is important to start from his parents. What do the parents love so well? It will be difficult for parents who spend several hours watching television programmes, to stop their children from toeing the same path. A father who flares up at every given opportunity is indirectly teaching his children that it is right to lose temper over the slightest provocation. To avoid sending the wrong messages to your children and wards, live uprightly. Let your life be transparent. Be honest. Be careful about what young children are exposed to
KEY POINT
Every Christian home must have solid values that the children must grow up to imbibe. Are such values in your home?
Bible in One year: 2 Kgs. 15-17
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