“BLESSINGS + TRANSITIONS”

I was once a kid who did not understand why I had to wake up early on Sundays, prepare myself, and go to church with my family. Now, I'm a dad who tries his best to help his daughters develop a love for God and His church. If you're a parent, especially with younger kids, I think you should do the same.

Let’s continue our study on this beautiful psalm.

This week’s passage gives us four ways in which a God-fearing man responds to God’s practical blessings. I have given you the first three. Now, let’s take a look at the fourth point.

A God-fearing man raises a godly family.

In Psalm 112:2, the writer declares that the children of a God-fearing man are mighty. The Hebrew word is “gibor,” “strong, mighty.” It gives us the idea of successive generations of believers being strong and influential in society. However, this doesn’t mean that believers and their children are the most powerful in their communities in terms of politics, military, or business. Instead, they are mighty in a spiritual sense. They are strong in morality and spirituality. It gives us the idea of Moses’ mandate to the Israelites to teach God’s commands to their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Proverbs 22:6 is also a good reference. Godliness should be passed on from generation to generation.

The idea is that when God-fearing parents carefully observe God’s Word and teach it to their children, they are training them up to be strong-willed individuals. They are armed with the spiritual tools to discern truth from error, right from wrong, moral from immoral. They do not compromise their values. They do what is right, and therefore, receive the Lord’s blessings.

Here’s a good reminder from Solomon.

7 “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!” 

Proverbs 20:7 

It is said that children learn more from what they see than what they hear. This is especially true in this day and age. They want their parents to demonstrate the lessons being taught to them. 

It’s one thing to encourage our kids to be honest and forthcoming, but do we actually take the time to listen when they speak? Or do we always find ourselves shutting them down because we’re too busy and we don’t want to be interrupted from whatever it is we’re doing? As God-fearing parents, it’s important to give our children the time and space to share their experiences and validate their emotions. When we try harder in accommodating them, teaching them about honesty and giving them a platform to share their thoughts becomes a whole lot easier. Doing so allows us to develop integrity. This is an effective way of raising a godly family.

When we train our children to love the Lord, we fulfill God’s mandate and thus prepare our family to receive His blessings.

Here's what I discovered: life on earth is a series of transitions. The young ones now are the parents of tomorrow. That's why it's important to proactively train the next generation to love God and serve Him. If we don’t draw them closer to God, the world will push them away from Him.

Pursue the Saviour today!