It concerns me that there are godly parents, Christian parents, who pray, tithe and serve as leaders in the church—yet their children grow up only to rebel against the faith.
According to the Bible, such a situation shouldn't even be possible because there is a scriptural law, or principle, which states, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).
That scripture is definite. It is spiritual fact. But it's not reality in a great many households.
Therefore, we must conclude one of two things—either God is a liar (and we know better than that!), or we are not training our children correctly.
"But Pastor Dollar," you may say, "Heaven knows I'm trying! I've been trying for years to bring my children in line, but I just can't seem to figure out how to do it!"
I understand. I've had that same struggle and so have millions of other Christian parents. But it's time we stopped struggling and trying to figure things out on our own. It's time we just open our Bibles and start putting God's laws and principles into operation in our families. It's time we start doing things God's way.
What is God's way? You can find it in Genesis 8:22. There, God tells us, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
What Seeds Are Being Planted in Your Child's Heart?
Seed-time and harvest. That is God's method of operation in everything He does. It's been His way since the beginning, and it will continue to be His way as long as this earth remains.
Seed-time and harvest is how you were saved. The principle of seedtime and harvest is what made it possible for you to have children in the first place. You planted seed and received a harvest. And seedtime and harvest is the method you must use to raise those children.
Read Proverbs 4:20-23 and you'll see what I mean. "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
Those verses reveal exactly how everything in life comes to us. First, something is planted like seed in the ground of our hearts. How does it get into that ground? Through the eyes, the ears and the mouth. Those three avenues are actually gateways through which things gain entrance into our heart.
Once the seed is in the ground, it will grow and produce a harvest. If it's good seed, it will produce a good harvest. If you don't guard the ground, however, you'll get unwanted seed on it and things will begin to grow you don't want. But one way or another, for better or for worse, you will get a harvest.
If we as Christian parents want to have children and teenagers who will keep the faith, we cannot neglect this system of seed-time and harvest. As parents, we are responsible for guarding the hearts of our children until they grow to the point where they can accept that responsibility themselves.
Watch Over Your Children
We must watch over what is being planted in them because when they are young, the ground of their heart is wide open to any and every kind of seed. And those seeds will become the forces that establish the kind of person they will grow up to be.
I don't want my daughter watching MTV, because I'm guarding her heart. I don't want her listening to lustful music, because I'm guarding her heart. I don't want those kinds of influences going in her eyes and her ears because I don't want her to grow up thinking and acting like some ungodly rap musician. I want her to grow up to be a woman of God.
Of course, guarding against unwanted seed is only part of our job as parents. We must also be planting good seed in our children's hearts. We must do what is necessary to give them an inheritance of faith that's strong enough to sustain them when they grow up.
If I want my daughters to enjoy a lifetime of victory in the Lord, I have to make sure they understand what I understand about the Word of God. I must see to it they have a revelation of how to prosper. I must be sure they know how to get healed and how to get ahead—not by depending on other people to make them successful, but by depending on faith in God.
It's much more important for me to leave an inheritance of faith to my children than it is for me to leave them a financial inheritance. If I leave them an inheritance of faith, they can get every material thing I ever had—and much more!
by Kenneth & Gloria Copeland
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers