Children and Choices

Don’t give your child the option to choose until you teach him/her how to choose. Life offers us a variety of choices, and it is up to us whether we choose the good ones or the bad. The career path we choose, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the life partner we choose are things, which we can decide upon. As parents, it is our responsibility to teach our children to make the right choices in life. A child when given the option will choose what is attractive and appealing, not thinking about the end results.

The bible says, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”(Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV). The choices you make as a parent will either affect your child positively or negatively, since they look at you as their role model to emulate.

If you will remember, there was a time when your child pretended to be like the dad or the mom, talking and moving like they do, and even sometimes putting on your dress or shoes just to be like dad or mom. Have you asked yourself “what does my child display when he/she is pretending to be me”?. Some points for making right choices:

1. Make right choices yourself

2. Teach your child to choose right and tell them why you made them make that choice and not the one they wanted.

3. Never shut down your child’s request without telling them the reason why it is not necessary for him/her

4. Train your child to be a leader than to be led

5. Build up the child’s confidence by building his self-confidence All these cannot be achieved without the word of God, which will instill in the child the fear of God, which produces wisdom. As parents and the light & salt of our families, and those around us, it is our obligation to live lives that honor Christ and also become role models for our children to emulate as they grow. Training our children in the Lord starts with us as parents, because our children display our character and attitudes, since those are what they constantly see.