"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6
Introduction Christmas lists are as common as garland, mistletoe, wreaths, trees and ornaments during the Christmas season. Most people enjoy Christmas as much as any time of the year. It is a season of joy and peace and giving to others. Those who are privileged to have children turn their thoughts to what they will give them this year for Christmas. Stores cut each other's throats vying for the parents' money. Toy makers infiltrate children's minds with ideas by way of the air waves and dictate to them the latest items "that you can't live without." A rat race and demolition derby take place in parking lots with cars and in stores with shopping carts in December.
The "Lust-to-Dust" Syndrome Taking a child to a store these days can be annoying. He sees something that he wants and asks Mom for it. she says, "No." That magical word touches a button in that child that sets off a temper tantrum. Finally the parents decide that their child IS going to die without it and buy it for him. To avoid a scene, the parent will give in. Did you ever notice how this item that was so lusted after is the same item that is collecting dust a week or two later? It usually accumulates this dust in very important places: under the bed, behind the couch, under the refrigerator, in the back of a closet, etc. It's quite obvious to see that a child CAN live without these things.
Christmas Needs THERE IS NOTHING TEMPORARY THAT A CHILD MUST HAVE TO LIVE, outside of necessities (food, clothing, shelter); however, there are some things that are long reaching that they must have if they are really going to live. These must be given to them by their parents.
Here is a list of essential items to give your child:
1. Discipline and Character Discipline is the training of the mind. A parent must give this training to a child. The mind of a child must be trained to know the difference between right and wrong. Loyalty to principles will help a child more in the long run than loyalty to pleasure. Loyalty to pleasure has been the downfall of multitudes, i.e., the alcoholic, the drug addict, sexual promiscuity and more. Loyalty to good principles has always been the foundation of a good life that accomplishes something.
The mind must be trained to respect authority. Nobody was ever hurt by respecting their parents, the school teachers, the law, the policeman, the preacher, the Bible or any other authority. A disregard for authority has sent many a man and woman to the prison house. And some to early graves.
PARENTS should dare to discipline in love, never in anger. A child should be made to mind and obey. Any parent who has been around twenty, thirty or forty years knows what is best for a child who is relatively new to this world. The book of Proverbs in the Bible should be read over and over by parents to properly discipline their children.
Proper discipline will give: Character, standards and convictions Character is the quality that makes one person different from the other. Character will keep a child from the poison of peer pressure in their teen and adult years. Standards are anything that is taken as a basis of model. It is the yardstick that we measure our lives by. Just to be like everybody else is a low standard. To live by the morals of this day is even lower. The person who aims at nothing will hit it every time. We need to pull our children out of the cesspool of fantasy that toy makers, movie producers and cartoonists have plunged them in. Life is reality, not fantasy. Our children should be taught to aim high. To have a vision, and a goal and to press towards it. The accomplishment of such will bring much more satisfaction than a life of fantasy. Fantasy can never be fulfilled.
Convictions are firm beliefs. Being "open-minded" amoral or "freethinking" is bologna! Anarchy leads to chaos in society. There is a wonderful security in the heart of a child who knows what his boundaries are. This security will develop convictions of their own. Children usually are carbon copies of their parents. It is very important to have convictions based on the Bible.
2. Time When you love somebody or something you will spend time with it or them. The football fan watches a lot of football because he loves it. A fisherman is always fishing. A hunter makes time to go hunting. Why? He loves it. A man who loves his wife spends time with her. Time is one of the only commodities in life that can never be gotten back. A reputation, money, health, friends, etc., can be lost and gotten back again. Time can not! A man who is a workaholic and works through the infancy, childhood and adolescence of his children is doing them a tragic injustice.
The woman who claims her career or an added income is more important than spending time with her children may some day lose her children and already has lost valuable time, never to be redeemed again. Give quality time to your children for Christmas. It is an expression of love.
3. Love Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8.) The greatest thing a man can do to give his child a good upbringing is to love his wife. In our society, most children are brought up spending more time with Mom than with Dad. Dad's usually working. They get closer to Mom and love her. She's dear to them. When Dad loves Mom and it shows, there is a marvelous union of love in that family.
Children need love and lots of it. They need to hear it in word and deed. A child's love can not be bought with money. How empty toys and money are to a child who is crying inside for love. A child desires love from Mom and Dad more than any material possession! Love is a gift from God. We must know God.
4. Knowledge of God The greatest gift of all! It has been forty-two years since the public state educators have allowed Bible reading and prayer in the schools. The responsibility lies now entirely on the parents to teach the children. God has given this responsibility to the parent primarily, not the church, Deuteronomy 6:7-8. The Church is an institution ordained by God to supplement the home in educating children with the knowledge of God. God wants to be part of your time!
Our children are fast becoming atheists unknowingly. Christ has been phased out of every aspect of their lives. Christmas is fast becoming Xmas. Santa Claus is stealing the hearts of children from the truth of why we have Christmas. Parents need to teach their children about the Lord Jesus Christ and take them to Sunday School and Church!
Do you know God?
You can have the greatest Christmas you've ever had by coming to know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. The Bible says that we all have sinned. The result of our sin is death. It separates us from God. If something is not done about our sin, we will be separated from God for all eternity in hell paying for them.
However, Jesus Christ did something about our sins. He "... came into the world to save sinners," 1 Timothy 1:15. He suffered for our sins and was crucified and died. He was buried and rose again from the grave three days later. The penalty for our sins was paid for in full by His shed Blood. We need to trust in Christ and what He has done for us to have salvation and go to Heaven.
