Posted on March 2, 2014 by Eliece Rybak
“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much.”
— Lisa Wingate
Daily Treasures for the Soul and Spirit
Posted on April 2, 2012 by Eliece Rybak
This treasure is for mothers of young children.
What an wonderful privilege you have to influence a life for God.
What kind of children do you like? That is a good question….do you like
obedient children? polite children? respectful children? Do you like to be around
children that are courteous to others, especially adults? Do you like children that
are kind and sharing with your children?
I suggest you make a “Character Manuel” for your children.
This can be as simple as a notebook with these goals in it…polite to others,
courteous, kind etc. It can then have verses from the word of God that will help
you realize that these goals are Biblical. When the principles are Biblical,
you are on praying ground for the power of God to be with you in your efforts
to bring your children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephes.6:4)
Then teach these verses to your children. Maybe take one character trait per week
and work on that trait for the whole week. Children are delightful when they are disciplined. Unruly and undisciplined children are not a delight to be around, for you the parent or for other adults and children.
Posted on December 25, 2012 by Eliece Rybak
This is one of the most awesome privileges,
but probably the greatest responsibility that
the Lord will entrust to us as Mothers.
These are eternal souls that have been entrusted to us.
We must:
“Train up a child in the way he should go…”
and
“Provoke not your children to wrath, lest they be discouraged.”
The task is not an easy one. Often when we have little ones, we have more than one little one.
We may be a working Mother, and are balancing many other tasks, responsibilities, and
facets of our lives that require a great deal of time and energy.
Many times our energy runs out before we reach the end of our day,
and we still have these precious impressionable souls to mentor
in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord”.
If you are in this stage of your journey in life,
there is One who can help you with the strength and courage you need for this privilege.
Please do not try to accomplish all of this in your own strength.
You are setting yourself up for discouragement and defeat.
The Lord, the Creator of these little “empty slates”,
is not only the One who gave them to you, but is also the One who wants to give you
the wisdom and the knowledge to accomplish this task successfully and well.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee
great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.”
I Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.”
The Lord does not take his “care” for you lightly. He loves you and wants,
more than you do, for you succeed in this task He has entrusted to you.
He asks you to come to Him, trust Him with your burdens, your cares,
whatever they are, and He wants to work on your behalf.
An important question here is …….
Are you coming to Him as His child or as one who does not really have
a personal relationship with Him? Do you know Him personally?
He is a personal God. He loved you so much that He took on flesh
in the person of Jesus Christ,
and lived a perfect sinless life here on Earth. While He was here,
the Bible says that He
suffered in all the ways we suffer (Hebr. 4:15). He then went to the cross
and died for our sins, in our place, suffering the wrath of God for us.
He rose again proving that He was the Almighty God who could conquer death.
He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, taking our requests
to the Father personally for us.
He asks you to believe this, take Him as the total payment for your sin,
and become His child.
John 1:12 says, ” But as many as receive Him, to them gave He power
to become the children of God,
to them that believe on His name.”
The Lord would like to answer your requests as His child, in the same manner that
you would answer the request of your own child, before you would
answer the requests of a child that you did not know.
If you do not know the Lord as His child, and do not have
a personal relationship with Him,
please go to….. “Where will I spend Eternity?”
Treasures from the Word of God
This treasure is for mothers and fathers of young children.
What a wonderful privilege you have to influence a life for God.
What kind of children do you like? That is a good question….do you like
obedient children? polite children? respectful children? Do you like to be around
children that are courteous to others, especially adults? Do you like children that
are kind and sharing with your children?
I suggest you make a “Character Manuel” for your children.
This can be as simple as a notebook with these goals in it…polite to others,
courteous, kind etc. It can then have verses from the word of God that will help
you realize that these goals are Biblical. When the principles are Biblical,
you are on praying ground for the power of God to be with you in your efforts
to bring your children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephes.6:4)
Or it could be as in-depth as having each child’s name on a given page,
and verses that child is working on to commit to memory. This may also include
certain character traits that are weaknesses to that particular child with some specific verses.
When my children were little, I could be quoted as saying…. “The principle is…..”
and then there would be some explanation as to why this was going to be the standard
because the principle was found in scripture.
There was a Biblical explanation why they were going to behave in this certain way.
This next section will be devoted to some of the principles that we
as parents need to reflect on to accomplish Godly character
and good manners in our children.
Guidelines for Parents
#1. Love each child unconditionally.
We are loved unconditionally by God. He does not require that we
live up to a certain standard, to be a recipient of His love.
John 3:16 says: “God so loved…that he gave,” and in Romans 5:8 says:
God showed “His love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Show unconditional love for your child. Learn a way to portray to your child
that you love them, but it is their sin, misbehavior, etc. that is unacceptable.
#2. Consider… Ephesians 5:21 – Ephesians 6:4
There are four essentials here: Husbands love; Wives submit; Children obey;
and Parents provoke not.
#3. Spend time playing and working with each child.
#4. Give specific approval to each child.
#5. Tell each child “I Love You”,
and hug him or her….or something similar.
#6. Read the Bible, teach Bible principles, and pray as a Family.
#7. Severely restrict TV, video games, and electronic devices
that seclude the child from family interaction. This becomes their gods.
#8. Be “around” a significant amount of time.
#9. Paddle each child in a Godly manner when he or she disobeys,
lies, is unkind, or lazy. (Prov. 29:15,17)
#10. Pray with your child,
for your child and for your child’s teachers.
#11. Have a good relationship and spend time alone with your spouse.
Husbands….keep dating your children’s mother.
Wives…carry out Ephesians 5:33…”see that she reverence her husband”.
Learn what that word “reverence” means, and do it.
Some Good Character Traits For Children to Learn
(and us parents if we have not learned them).
#1. “Be ye Kind” – Ephes. 4:32
God calls this “kind” and “tenderhearted”.
This is against our “old nature”. Self is always exalted sinfully.
Make sure your children are tender toward other children’s feelings.
This would eliminate all the “bullying” that is so prevalent in our society today.
Do not let you children be insensitive to their siblings feelings.
Do not let them “make fun” of other children.
If that other child is not having fun, it is sin.
#2. Speak kindly …” always with grace” Col. 4:6.
Speak to edify…. building others up, not tearing down
“…that which is good to the use of edifying,
that it may minister grace to the hearers” (Ephes. 4:29).
Mothers, let me encourage you to be very careful of the tone of
your voice when you are speaking to your children.
Even the tone of your voice can convey acceptance of them,
while you are at the same time addressing their disobedience.
Convey the love of Christ for them at all times because He loves
us at all times…..unconditionally.
#3. Forgive others.
Ephes. 4:32…”forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake
hath forgiven you.”
(We adults need to learn this with our children, if we have not already learned it.)
We do not have the right NOT to forgive .
God does not hold a grudge against us; He freely forgives as we ask.
Are we more righteous than God, that we cannot forgive someone when It is the right thing to do or we are asked to do so?
He loved and forgave us “while we were yet sinners” (Rom. 5:8)
#4. Speak Truth.
The book of proverbs is wonderful for verses on truth.
God hates lying lips…Prov. 6:17,19; 12:22;
(If our President and those who are leading our country
had learned this when they were little, we would be far better off.)
#5. “No corrupt communication” (Ephes. 4:29)
This means sinful dirty talk, as well as” foolish talking,
nor jesting, which are not fitting; but the giving of thanks.” Ephes.5:4.
This verse gives us a substitute for this bad and empty talk.
It is the giving of thanks to the God we are accountable to.
We need to get a concept of the holiness of God,
and teach that to our children.
Posted in Mothers, Mothers of Young Children, Uncategorized