• Feb. 14, 2006
Training our children for life
This is an article I was inspired to write as I considered the importance of family and the privilige that it is to homeschool. I began to ponder what it is that we do and why we do it. I hope that it will inspire and encourage you.
Educating our children is training them for life. We are teaching them to develop a lifestyle that includes and revolves around Christ. Each day is an investment of time and resources used to help them discover the plan that God has prepared for their lives and their own unique journeys. We assist them in deciphering and discerning truth from error and right from wrong. As their parents we are helping to develop their young and impressionable minds within a nurturing environment by ensuring that their influences and also what we allow into our home in the form of media and entertainment is consistent with our vision for our family and our goals for our children. We want to create an environment that is condusive of learning and growing in life in a way that pleases God and honors our unique gifts, talents, and abilities.
Teaching a child is in essence training them for the life they will lead and live as adults. How do we effectively prepare them then? Is there a method, or perhaps a particular course of study? In my opinion it just seems fitting to develop them with the same tools that they will use throughout life, just in different portions and ways. For us it begins with laying the foundation of Truth-God's word. This is the blueprint for their lives and as such it is important that they develop a heart knowledge of the Bible. A daily acquaintance with it, not just in reading alone, but in application. Learning as they live from day to day, while having their lives shaped and molded through the guidance of scripture. It is definitely a learning process, one that takes time and develops each of us for the better.
Our culture doesn't necessarily emphasize for us the importance of raising children within a chrisitian environment, instead they reveal the consequences of not doing so. Now I ask, who is responsible for training our children? As their parents and main influences it is our responsibility to teach them as well as guide and direct them to what they need to know about life, this world and their part in it from God's perspective. The culture we live in today is bent on indoctrinating children with carnal knowledge from humanistic and many times self-absorbed perspectives of religion, our world, and life. However, what they fail to see is that apart from God and His word there is no life. Secular beliefs are based on theory and collective opinions, not truth. These theories and beliefs are concoted as a result of living self-lead lives apart from their Creator. Life cannot be seperated from God. He in essence is life and through Him all life exists. As His children, we by grace have recieved the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
What our children are taught, and by whom they are taught will influence them and be a part of their lives forever. The instruction they recieve is preparing them for eternity somewhere. True instruction flows from God's word and cleanses our hearts and minds to view life and this world through "eternal eyes". There is no lasting and successful training apart from God and His word. Therefore it is beneficial that we recognize that the very teachings and instruction we pass on to our children and the character that we encourage and mold in the tender and impressionable years will be tremendously effective in governing their very lives in one direction or another. The foundation that we lay is the platform from which they will build their lives upon and eventually their own families. Will it be sound? If it is built on God's word it will be. Through the word of God they will be given the necessary tools to establish a sound and sturdy foundation and the resources to repair and make necessary changes and maintenance. We can help them sharpen those tools, train them in the proper usage of them and as a result, watch them mature in life. And when the time comes for them to work with the tools independently, they will know which ones to use and when to use them.
True training and insturction are taught within the family throughout the day,upon rising in the morning to bedtime. Family is the major source in passing along Godly instruction and wisdom for life. All too often however, this privilege is handed off to some stranger outside the home for X amount of hours for as many as 5 days a week or more. Secular society places great importance on academic achievement, and equipping children for successful careers, but they leave God out of the equation altogether, and many who say they are "christians" follow their lead anyway. All because it seems that everyone else is doing the same thing. But consider this, what has God called your children to do with their lives? They may very well be the next leading pediatrician, gourmet chef, or even president of the United States; but don't overlook the possiblity of God's plan for their life to involve them being a father who trains his sons in his trade as a carpenter, or passes on the family farm. Or perhaps your daughter dreams of raising a family and homeschooling instead of venturing out into the corporate world. Or perhaps law school isn't for your child because they have a passion for the written word? These are all possibilities. Taking the time to invest in our children and helping them discover God's plan for their lives is very important. It helps them to live life with purpose and aim by eliminating the fustration that is created when one is not in their place, or on the path that they were created to be on. God has specific plans for each of our children and it is to their best interest as well as ours to invest the time and energy necessary to detect their talents and gifts and spend time in the Lord's presence concerning each one. I said all of that to say this, don't get caught up in the ways of this world and be moved by popular opinion. Exceling academically is wonderful, but it is only part of the whole, not the whole in and of itself. The purpose of education is to assist your child in fulfilling their destinies. That is why it is so important for your child to know what they are here on earth to do. So that they won't just run off to university because so and so is going. But if that is what God is leading them to do they will be decisive and have a plan of action. And if God has placed on their hearts to go in another direction they will obey and be blessed as a result.
Only what we do for God will last. He desires to be incorporated into all aspects of our lives including education. It is through the education that we recieve that we view life. It shapes our perspective. God is first and all else follows. The Creator before the creation. I believe it is time for the christian community to reevaluate education and sift it through God's word. Education is truly meant to be training and instruction for a life that pleases God, not just serving as a means of career advancement or as a sure route to acquiring more financially. The world has influenced our views for far too long, especially in the area of childrearing. It is time to take a stand for God and allow Him to renew our minds and then our views on education for His glory. So allow Him to show you His original plan and design for family, education and life. What you discover might surprise you. God is the same from one day to the next, He never changes even in our modernized world.
