Raising children is neither a science or a mathematical equation to be solved, it’s an art. When your children are born, think of their hearts like a canvas, awaiting the brush strokes of an artist. And God made no mistake when he chose you to be the artist of your child’s heart.
In one hand you hold the brush of unconditional love and responsibility. In the other, a pallet of colors with names like words, actions, and deeds. With these you are painting an image on the canvas of your child’s heart. It’s an image of who God is and who your children are in relationship to Him. And that image will, to a great degree, determine weather or not they ever fulfill their God given destiny.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” The word issues also means, boundaries and boarders. You can see then that behaviors and habits are determined by the boundaries set in the heart. It is not the external pressures or laws that constrain us or our children but what has been established in our heart.
The Bible says it is the goodness of God that draws us and the love of God that constrains us. That is why the image that we paint on the canvas or our children’s heart is so important. Will our children see God as a harsh task master, judging every failure. Will the see Him as a God of tolerance, or will they see Him as a living Father who wants to guide, guard, and govern for our benefit.? It’s up to you, you’re the artist.
But don’t feel inadequate or overwhelmed. You are not in this alone. The master painter, the Holy Spirit, lives inside you if you have been born again. So it’s not necessary to have the talent and experience of a Picasso or Rembrandt, or a modern day Thomas Kinkade. He will paint the image through you if you will depend upon Him.
God bless you,
Jim Ertel