To the End of Generations

To the end of Generations

“Train a child in the way he should go, 

and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 

                                               Proverbs 22:6

“Whoever teaches his son teaches not alone his son 

but also his son’s son, and so on to the end of generations.”  

                                                                         The Talmud.

What are you teaching your children? Your children see not only your words but your deeds also. It is no good saying to your child “Do what I say, not what I do.” We must live out our values before our children.
Francis of Assisi wrote,

“The deeds you do

 may be the only sermon some persons will hear today” 

                                                                     Francis of Assisi.

This is certainly true when it comes to our children. So what moral values are you teaching your children?
If you are a Christian you most certainly must be teaching them to love. Jesus when asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40.
As believers in Christ Jesus, our children must see the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.  The apostle Paul telling us,
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22,23.
We as believers must teach our children to cultivate those truth. To put them into action in their day to day lives.
For in doing so they will make the world around them a better place.
Please think about it.

Your Legacy

Your legacy
The writer of Proverbs states,
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 
Proverbs 22:6.
Billy Graham said,
“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” 
What will your legacy be to your children. A hand full of pocket change? Some nice trinkets? Stocks and bonds? A mansion? A mud hut?
When my father and mother died they left me a few thousand in insurance money, some furnishings, pictures and other odds and ends.
They also however left me with my faith although they may not have thought they did.
My parents were lower middle class emigrants to Canada. They like all emigrants had their struggles but they gave me and my siblings a good childhood.
They also left us with the ability to think for ourselves. To question things. As soon as we were old enough to talk we were encouraged to think for ourselves and form our own opinion.
I can remember in my early teens discussing politics and religion with my parents. We’d discuss things we seen on the news, in the paper or on radio.
There were many times I disagreed with them especially on religion. Still my parents respected my beliefs even though at times they’d do their best to change my opinion.
It lead to some lively debates and I believe it moulded me into what I am today.
        Because those discussions with my parents, that were at times very lively. I have come to believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God the Saviour of mankind.
It is this I have passed on to my own children. I like my parents before me encouraged my children to have an opinion on things. I encouraged them to search out the truths I presented them from the bible. To see for themselves if what I told them was right or wrong.
I never stopped them from looking at things contrary to what I believed. Which they did. The result for me has been a good one. Both my children are Christians and serve the Lord in various ways, both here at home in Canada and around the world.
Joshua Loth Liebman wrote,
“Give your children unconditional love, a love that is not dependent on report cards, clean hands, or popularity.  Give your children a sense of your whole-hearted acceptance, acceptance of their human frailties as well as their abilities and virtues.  Give your children your permission to grow up to make their own lives independent of you.  Give them a sense of truth; make them aware of themselves as citizens of a universe in which there are many obstacles as well as fulfilment’s.  Bestow upon your child the blessings of your faith.  These are the laws of honouring your son and your daughter.  Out of these laws will be built the Declaration of Independence for the coming generation, a spiritual and emotional independence that, in turn, will make the world free, democratic, safe, creative.”
What Liebman said, to me is saying what the writer of Proverbs wrote,
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Proverbs 22:6.
For me my faith, God, and my family, are the most important things in my life. As a Christian I can conceive of no greater blessing, no greater legacy, that I can bestow on my family than that of my faith. It gives them hope both in this world and the world to come.
What legacy will you leave for your family?
Please think about it.