We have heard parents talk about the birth of unplanned children as if they were accidents. But there are no accidents with God. He doesn't make mistakes. Even before a baby is born, God has a plan and a purpose written down in His book for that child. God's thoughts of love go out to him constantly.

Every human life is of precious value to God—special, wonderful, full of potential. God alone creates life, and every life is precious to Him.

Maybe you didn't plan your child, but God did. He wanted to bless you with that baby. He wanted to enrich your life. And that's what you need to teach your children: that they are special blessings from God, that they are precious and deeply loved —by you and by Him.

You need to teach your kids that they were made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27); that God loves them and died for them (John 3:16); that no matter how "good" or "bad" they may act, God will always love them (Rom.5:8); that He will never leave them nor forsake them (Heb. 13:5). And if the Creator of the whole universe loves them that much, they really are somebody important!

This is why we should never say to our kids things like, "You're stupid," or "You'll never amount to anything," or "You're just like your Aunt So-and-so." God doesn't think these things about us, and we don't have the right to say them to our kids.

After all, they are His property. They belong to Him. "Every good and perfect gift is from God" (James 1:17).

Source: How To Raise Your Kids In Troubled Times by Buddy & Pat Harrison.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers