Teaching your Children: They were Sent

I recently joined a group on Facebook called Purpose over  Popularity in addition I'm helping a friend with her motivational speaking business called I Am Life in Tune. Interacting with the ladies who are involved with both of these entities has helped me to begin to rethink on the topic of purpose. What I have been thinking about is how we have mistakenly thought that we need to find the meaning of life. Every person on the planet was actually not simply born onto the planet. However, we were actually sent to the planet. As Christians we recognize that there is life after death. But, what we forget is there also life before birth or for that matter conception. One of my favorite verses is Psalms 139:16.

Your eyes saw me when I was formless;

all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began. (Holman)

What I believe this verse gives us is a clear understanding of God having a purpose for us. It is for this purpose we have been born. We were sent here by God to accomplish something. It is up to us not only to find out what that something is, but to prepare our children to do the same. I just read a great article in Relevant Magazine. The title is "What it Really Means o be Made in the Image of God" it talks about all the ways we are like the Creator. One of them is relational. I believe parents  reflect to our children what God is like. Not just by what we say, but in how we live.

I have spoken in previous blogs about being the example for our children and how they live what they learn. I have not spoken much about what we say to them about life and living. I believe every parents should be asking God to reveal to them the purpose for their child being sent here and talking to them about it. I do not know about you,  but I never heard growing up: God sent you here for a reason. Do you know what that reason is? Are you working towards the goal of doing what you are here to do?

Raising children to be purposeful, engaging, productive, adults who commune with God, begins with getting directions from the Holy Spirit and training the child in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). This scripture is not simply about discipline. It is also about purpose. Train up a child to be disciplined and purposeful and when they are old they will not depart from it.

I will give a caveat here. This is to be God's purpose for your child and not yours. Just because your child is one of the best soccer players on the field doe not mean they are to play professionally. It could mean they will get a full ride scholarship so they can become the world's greatest astrophysicist. The only way to know this is to for you to ask and teach them to ask God for the reason they were sent here to Earth.

I know this is a different take on things and may be a bit to wrap your head around. I encourage you to think on it and seek the Holy Spirit on how to apply it your life. And as always,

Believe in Parenting