Daily devotion – Our Children!
Loving Our Children — Seeing Them Love the Lord, and Not Quitting
Psalm 127:3 — “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”
Children are a treasure and a precious gift from God! What a privilege and responsibility He has given us as parents and grandparents to love them, teach them, and point them towards the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 103:17 — “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children.”
Today, as we went about our travels, walking to school and through shopping-centre car parks, I witnessed several mothers battling with strong-willed children. Each time, my heart went out to both parent and child, and I found myself praying for them.
The Bible reminds us that, since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, we are all born with a sinful nature.
Psalm 51:5 — “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Our children need more than love and provision; they need godly instruction, discipline, and consistent guidance from the Word of God.
Proverbs 22:6 — “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:15 — “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
The enemy, Satan, and this fallen world continually seek to capture the hearts and minds of our children. As Christian parents and grandparents, we face a spiritual battle that requires patience, perseverance, prayer, and dependence upon the strength of the Lord. It is often a long and exhausting conflict, but we must not give up!
To those of you raising children today, I want to encourage you: do not surrender, do not lose heart, and do not stop praying. When the battle intensifies, continue to intercede for your children, even setting aside time for fasting when appropriate. Keep teaching them God’s Word, correcting them in love, and showing them through your own lives what it means to follow Jesus.
We cannot force our children to love the Lord, but we can faithfully point them to Him, live out our faith before them, and trust God to work in their hearts. We may not see the fruit immediately, but our responsibility is to remain faithful.
The Lord gave His people clear instructions concerning the importance of teaching their children His ways. This was not to be an occasional activity, but a daily way of life.
Deuteronomy 6:4–7 reminds us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and then commands us to teach His truth diligently to our children — at home, along the road, when we lie down, and when we rise up.
In other words, our faith must be more than something our children hear about at church on Sunday. They need to see it lived out in our homes, our conversations, our decisions, and our daily walk with the Lord.
Dear parent or grandparent, never underestimate the power of a godly example, a faithful Bible lesson, a loving correction, or a prayer whispered through tears. Keep sowing the seed of God’s Word. Keep loving your children. Keep bringing them before the Lord, and keep trusting Him with their future.
The greatest victory is not simply seeing our children succeed in this world, but seeing them come to know, love, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. What a joy it will be to see our children and grandchildren walking in the truth!
And remember this: we may not always be able to stand beside our children, but we can always bring them before the throne of grace.
The most powerful and loving position a parent can take for their child is on their knees, praying for them!
Keep loving. Keep teaching. Keep praying. Keep trusting the Lord — and don’t quit!