Promise or Principle?

From the moment I found out I was pregnant my heart’s desire was to raise Godly kids.  Not simply being content or satisfied with “good” kids….but Godly kids.  This is no easy feat for anyone—especially someone like me who had no role model growing up that would have given me a basis for attempting to do something like that!  I learned very early that it had little to do with me and lots to do with God!

I knew I had to do my part….thus the “precedent principle” I mentioned a few days ago, and I knew I needed to walk before them a life that glorified God….I needed to be in the Word, speak the Word, pray the Word and live the Word….but in the end…..God was the One who would create a new heart in them to love Him with all of their heart and soul and mind and strength.  Just like my husband and I gave them a physical heart somehow through the conception—it was really God who created them physically and I knew He was the One to recreate them spiritually.

In order to “do our part” to raise Godly kids….we had rules.  One rule was that they were never allowed to be in any home where a parent was not present.  Not a friend’s house.  Not our house.  Too many things happen when minors are left alone.  I know….I did lots of those things!!

Many times we would get a phone call saying that their friends parents left to run an errand and would it be OK for them to stay.  The answer?  No!  Again….I cite the precedent principle.  If I rationalize and it becomes OK for just a few minutes….(after all it will just be a few minutes and it will require me to get in the car and go get them)….what’s the big deal?  The big deal is that what I am saying to them is that the rule really does not matter.

Another rule was that no one of the opposite sex was allowed in their bedroom with the door closed.  In fact, only on very rare occasions were they even allowed in the bedroom.  I could cite more “rules” but the point is this.  Do the rules guarantee Godly kids?  No.  Only the work of the Holy Spirit makes Godly kids.

I cannot tell you how many nights I prayed all through the night for our son.  There were times where I literally felt I was battling the enemy for his very life!!  It was spiritual warfare and I knew I had to go to battle for him!! 

Ladies, if you are in the midst of the battle with your child….perhaps they are only two years old….or twelve….or sixteen….or thirty!!!  Do not grow weary in well doing.  Fight the good fight.  Run the race.  It is well worth it.

It humbles me to share that I am now a pastor’s mom and a pastor’s mother-in-law….only by the grace of God!  Does that mean I am “done”?  Finished?  NOT!!!  Never!  The enemy is even more seductive and dangerous….you KNOW!!  You are a pastor’s wife and he is prowling like a roaring lion seeking some ministry he can devour!!  Be encouraged, however!  Cast all of your cares on Him because He cares for you and for your children!!

There is something I would like to hear back from you about….there has been some discussion among some of the ladies in our church about Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Some believe this is a promise and others believe it is a principle or a truth.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!  Thanks!