Who is a Christian?
A Christian is a person who believes God raised Jesus from the dead and confesses Jesus as Lord. He is one who is genuinely born again and follows the precept of Christ.
Who is a parent?
A parent is one who gives birth to a child, raises and nurtures the child till adulthood. Guardians are parents because they nurture the child as well.
Who is a teacher?
A teacher is one who impacts knowledge into a child, he also instructs, directs, guides so that the child can inculcate the right attitudes.
Starting from the creation of the world from the beginning in Genesis; God created all things to be fruitful and multiply, a perspective to the multiplication God talked about is called “Development & Training.
When a child is born into the world, there is always happiness and fun in the air but note that the training and upbringing of a child starts as soon as a child is born, from how the child feeds, to how he does a lot of things.
William Hodding Cater wrote that there are two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children, one is “roots and the other is wings”.
A child has a blank tabula rasa and parents are the first individuals to write on them. Therefore, whether parents know it or not, they are teachers. In fact, they are their children’s first teachers.
We know as adults that it is difficult to forget what we learnt from our parents when we were young. Beyond their words, we learnt from their actions and their response to situations. Little wonder, the bible says, train your child in the way that he should go, for when he grows up, he will nor depart from it.
There is a saying that “charity begins at home”. Every first lesson begins at home. When you start training your child from home, even if the child is taught the wrong things thereafter; what you’ve taught the child sticks to him and the child will most times display the right things he had been taught at home.
Remember that when most children gather to talk, what comes out of their mouth is “my mummy said this or my Daddy said that”. What parents imbibe and impart into their children’s life is what they manifest.
As a Christian parent, you should first ensure that you are deeply rooted in Christ. By this, you will spread the fragrance of God to your children. Also, deliberately make out time for your children. Teach your children the word of God, guide them to inculcate the right mores and values and put yourself in a position that your children can confide in you as well.
Let your children know they were born for a special purpose just like Jesus also had a purpose.
Remember Eli and Samuel, who refused to train their wards, their children ended up in destruction. Remember Abraham, who trained his children as well.
Therefore, Christian parents are the first and forever teachers of children and whosoever refuses to train their children will give an account on the last day.
©Christian Teachers Global Network
