Do Your Children Delight You?

Do your children delight you? According to the Bible, they should.

Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. (Proverbs 29:17)

I think most people don't even think this is possible. Since I had my first baby, I have heard people talk about the terrible two's, how this age or that age is so difficult or challenging, how it is so hard when you have a pre-teen. After those years went by then I started hearing, "you just wait until they are teenagers"! I was hearing about all the terrible problems & certain rebellion that we were about to experience. Michael and I never believed or accepted this and thank God we haven't had any of those problems. I have a 16 yr. old (only 4 months away from 17) so I am assuming it would have come up by now. I am not saying there haven't been challenges but my goodness you would think the world was going to end when you have a teenager. I am sure there are other reasons that our children have not gone through a lot of the difficulties & challenges that other children/teens go through (homeschooling is awesome by the way!). I think some very important things are that we didn't expect or plan to have such a hard time AND we took God at HIS word.

In case you are wondering what started me thinking on this topic it was the verse above. It popped up on my blog today (Daily Snippets from the Word). It really made me stop and think. Catrina has been involved in an activity where she is dealing with several (20 at a time) children in a mission. God only knows what kinds of backgrounds & home lives these children have had or are currently experiencing. They may come from abusive homes, homes where one or more parent is in jail, family members with drug problems, etc.

This verse explains why these children and many other children today are not bringing delight to their parents souls. They aren't bringing delight to anyone most likely. This is really sad because as all children, they have such great potential.

On Tuesday, Hannah asked if we could listen to some country music. On occasion, I will let her listen to the "classic country" station in town. We edit out songs that are not appropriate or discuss the lyrics that are sometimes SO depressing. (We have a lot of conversations like--isn't it great to be a Christian and have hope in Jesus?) I am sure most of you never heard or don't remember this song but "Skip A Rope" was playing. I thought the lyrics were very interesting. Read them and see what you think.

If you click on the title you can listen to the song. I warn you that it will be with you all day. Is that really a bad thing though?

SKIP A ROPE
(Jack Moran / Glenn Tubb)

Oh, listen to the children while they play,
Now ain't it kinda funny what the children say,
Skip a rope.

Daddy hates mommy, mommy hates dad,
Last night you shoulda heard the fight they had,
Gave little sister another bad dream,
She woke us all up with a terrible scream.

(CHORUS)

Cheat on your taxes, don't be a fool,
Now what was that they said about a Golden Rule?
Never mind the rules, just play to win,
And hate your neighbour for the shade of his skin.

(CHORUS)

Stab 'em in the back, that's the name of the game,
And mommy and daddy are who's to blame.

Skip a rope, skip a rope,
Just listen to your children while they play,
It's really not very funny, what the children say,
Skip a rope, skip a rope.

Towards the end , the song really places the blame where it belongs. It is amazingly sad to see children that are so undisciplined and annoying that nobody wants to be around them. The children pay because people just don't like them. I am saddened to see that in this day, children are not bringing delight to their parents....and it isn't just the poverty stricken children. I see a lot of Christian parents that do not correct their children or are so inconsistent that you can't tell. I am shocked and amazed at how children are allowed to roll their eyes at adults, show attitude, question their parents, argue, and be down right hateful or disrespectful. These children are very unhappy even though the parent thinks they are being "nice" to the children. When children are allowed to be this way they are VERY unhappy and angry. As a parent we would never set out to make our children unhappy or angry but we do without even realizing it.

I have been amazed many times at how true the words of God are.
Being a parent is not for the faint of heart but the Bible says if we correct our children they will give us rest. Can you say that your children ever give you rest or are you stressed out all the time?

The Bible also says in Proverbs 13:24:

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Something else that needs to happen is discipline. We don't LIKE to do this but God commands it. We show that we love our children when we take the time to discipline. It is easy to become tired and not want to put out the effort sometimes (a lot of times). Some parents fall into the trap of yelling instead. It seems easier to do that. When we truly love our children we will do it anyway. We need to view it as "training" our children. If you were being "trained for a job" you wouldn't get it right the very first time. You would need lots of practice and lots of correction wouldn't you? Our children are no different. Do not become weary in well doing but keep doing what you know is right.

There have been many times that I needed to discipline but didn't want to. Hey, I get tired too! When I did it anyway I was almost SHOCKED at the change in my child. The previously unhappy & angry child was now hugging me and loving on me.

When we discipline (consistently) and correct our children we show that we love them. Instead of having happy children that are a blessing to us we end up with VERY unhappy children that are angry.

If we raise our children the way that God commanded what is our reward?
Our children will give us rest AND they will delight our soul.
I hope that today, your children delight you. :-)