Parenting (4)
The Lord was addressing Eli for the misconduct of his children and said he would judge his family forever because Eli failed to restrain his children from being contemptible.
The children of Eli were adults and made personal choices to differ with the Word of God by doing what was contrary to His commandments. They were responsible for their wrong choices but God saw the failure of Eli to restrain his children from the unbecoming behaviours and chose to communicate with Samuel instead.
As parents, no matter what age our children are, we are still held responsible by God for their wrongs.
In most cases, our children lose focus on how they should conduct themselves because the responsibility of bringing up children is left on mothers alone. The father figure is rarely seen in the family picture. He is usually busy with other things at the expense of the proper upbringing of the children. In no time, the small boys and girls will be addressed as young adults and will have lost out on a lot of things during their upbringing because their parents were not there for them.
Teachers in schools, pastors or priests at church are supposed to work hand in hand with parents who are responsible for the proper raising of their children. Domestic workers are only meant to help God-fearing parents who are mindful of the proper upbringing of their children.
Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.â€Â
Training a child involves having self-discipline, self-control and lots of sacrifice. It involves living a life which is exemplary to the growing child and one which is worthy in the presence of God.
It is the wish of every parent to bring their children up in an environment which is not threatening, but no one can promise a drug free society, or a society without sexual abuse and immorality. Rather, parents are called upon to train their children to face these very challenges and win.
