How to Parent God’s Children

By Kayla Nicholle

Genesis 1:26 NASB “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds in the sky, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

God has made us all in His image and likeness. What does this mean exactly? When He created male and female, He put aspects in all of us that we not only need in order to live the life He planned for us, but also reflects parts of Him as a Father. Just as we pass down traits to our children. He made us look like Him, act like Him, and think like Him. Our will was set up to be aligned with His. Therefore, it took an outside voice of doubt to change it; not an inward voice wanting to rebel. He’s done that for every human being that has existed, including our children.

Adonai gave us the amazing ability to pass down our traits to generations after us. See, everything God does is future and family. It’s how He thinks. Like a good parent, He is always thinking about His kids. What do they need? How can I help them? What will their children’s children’s children need? God never only thinks of the current generation, but of thousands of generations ahead of time. Therefore, part of our amazing gifts as humans is to go forth and multiply. Not just in offspring, but in generational gifts and blessings as well! This is why Abraham’s blessings got passed down to Isaac, that got passed down to Jacob, and so on. This is how Israel was able to have 12 sons that were blessed to be the 12 tribes we know today. Generational blessings last forever.

The problem became that when the fall happened, generational curses also got thrown into the mix. Instead of the beautiful blessings of the Garden, what was passed down was the curse of working by the sweat of the brow. This allowed for curses being passed down like in the situation with Cain. The curse gave room and authority to hatred, jealousy, and eventually, murder. Death surely came into their camp after eating the fruit. In ways that Adam and Eve never imagined because that was not their design.

We must remember, at the end of the day, our children are not our own. God has given us our children to steward, but not to keep. The times goes by quickly, and as the Bible says, the son will leave the house of his parents and be joined as one with his wife. There have been a lot of possession talk about children these days. Especially when it comes to the school systems, however, while the world sees their children as “mine,” Christian parents must see them as “His.” Ours to teach and grow, but His to keep.

What does this look like?

Well, first and foremost, we need to involve God in our parenting like we would our spouse. How should we handle this situation? Should we discipline this action? It’s important to ask these questions to Adonai, allow Him the room to speak, and ultimately give direction, help, and wisdom to us. While God is our Father, He’s also our partner and heavenly spouse. He helps us to make decisions in life, but also when it comes to our children. He is the ultimate parent who is giving us access to His perfect knowledge. All we have to do is ask and receive it!

Second, teaching them the direct Words of God. Sometimes we allow the distractions of the world to interrupt our lives. We give room to unimportant things like sports, piano lessons, and dance classes, and skimp on things like Bible studies, prayer times, and learning the history of God. It’s not that unimportant things are bad; they are just simply…unimportant. When our children are older, facing tribulations, will the knowledge of how to dribble the basketball perfectly help them, or the wisdom of Isaiah 54:17. They can’t stand on their trophies to save them, but they can stand on the Word. Our job as parents is to teach our children how to be successful in the world as adults. Teaching them life lessons like how to cook for themselves, how to do laundry, how to drive; these are vitally important, and any good parent would say that it’s our job to show them these things. What we generally overlook is the knowledge of the Bible, which will build them a firm foundation that will last their entire lives, into eternity.

Also, teaching them the real Words of the Bible, and not a sugar-coated version that will later confuse them or catch them off guard. Children’s brains are developing at a rapid speed. What you think may be too intense for them, can actually make more sense than it does to us adults. Discretion and discernment are important here. They also think very literally. While we think of children off in the clouds, their brain function tells us quite the opposite. If you tell your child, they are going to Disney Land, not only do they have the faith to believe you without any evidence, but they also equate it to right here and now. You said they were going, so their minds start firing triggers that say, “We are going now!” Because they typically don’t have concept of time and space, everything to them is in the present.

So, back to the Word. When we tell cushy Bible stories to our children, that is what they meditate on, and becomes how they process these events for years to come. Their minds come up with imagery to match the words in ways that our adult minds don’t do fully. They are almost transported to those stories and think on them as if they were there. When they find out that it’s not the actual way it happens, it almost feels like a lie to them. Similar to Santa. As children, almost everyone has one memory of “seeing” Santa, but it’s just their mind creating imagery to understand and be immersed into that world. When they find out it’s not real, they must now battle their own “memory” and that can cause some very rooted issues later in life. We never want to do this with God. We want them to understand that what happened in the Bible is real, literal, and can explain to them the truth without oversharing. This takes practice, discernment, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. But it’s very important, and what God wants us to do.

Third, it’s our jobs as parents to look and find the anointings that God has placed in our children. What are strengths that God has placed in our little ones that He wants refined? Is your child a great artist? How can you form that for them so they can use that for the glory of God? Are they a great speaker? Ask God how to refine that for them so they can speak to others about God in a way that He ordains. So many children have incredible gifts that are overlooked because parents are not searching for the things God has placed inside of them. Most parents are focused on what they want for their children and not what God wants for them. We want our children to be successful. Usually that means having great careers, making good money, enjoying the finer things of life. But some children are born to be ‘John the Baptists’. A little ‘out there’, weird in societies’ eyes, and living a very different life that God has called them to do. Its our jobs to see these things, these passions, and thank the Holy Spirit for the guidance to bring those gifts to the front of their lives and help them build upon them.

We are our child’s advocate in this world. When everyone around them is saying they can’t, we need to be the safe place that says they can. This is important and needs to be a constant each and every day. Our world right now is telling our children a lot of things good and bad. We must be the balancing force that brings truth and understanding to things that are confusing and hard to process. This will take the conscious effort of being involved in their lives, putting the phones down, turning off the TVs, and sitting with them. Get on their level. Play a game with them, do something that they enjoy (not technology), and speak to them. While we are giving them room to grow, we must also bring them in for safety. Again, this is a balance that only God can guide us with.

No parent is perfect. We will all make mistakes. But remember that while we are doing our best, God is backing us. He will let us know if we went a little too far in our frustration or snapped when it wasn’t their fault. He is the Perfect Parent Who is guiding us, all we have to do is involve Him, and remember that our children are precious gifts. They are not a burden on our lives.

The application for today is to make the effort every day to put away distractions, speak to your babies about whatever is going on in their lives, allow God the room to direct, and each day help them grow closer to God. It may feel overwhelming at first, but God is so good and patient. He will be faithful to you as you are faithful in your parenting of His beautiful children.