Preparing Them to Be Kings!

Preparing Them to be Kings

Series: From Boys to Men

“Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I wrote this in 2008, before there was Judah, but it still applies to today.

Reality just hit me. I am sitting here writing a check for Javan to take the ACT, and reality just kind of slapped me in my face. In two years my son will be gone; to try on the world on for himself. I know that we have tried hard to rear them in the Word and to teach them how to be awesome God fearing young man, but today, I had to ask myself, have we given them everything? Of course preparation continues throughout life, but there are some core concepts that I want them to really understand. As I watch my son become this man, I often think of what kind of man will he be? Then I think to myself, what type of man have I prepared him to be? My children are abundantly blessed but there was a point in my life where I spoiled them tremendously. They were their mama's babies. The Holy Spirit reminded me that they are ours on loan, and that if we don't discipline them and train them correctly, then we set them up for failure (Proverbs 13:24). I was so focused on how they needed to be good "little boys for mommy", that i forgot one day, they needed to be men for their wives and were called unto purpose. They weren't created for me, they were created by God, for the Glory of God. I spent too much time, trying to solve their problems, interfere with their father disciplining them, make up for what we didn't have. That i was forgetting to prepare them to manage their own households one day.

I began with a series of questions: Am I preparing them to be loving (or have i fostered selfish relationships amongst siblings)? Do I teach them to have respect for others (or does anything go in the house)? Am I too attentive to their needs (you know we never want them to suffer)? Am I too stern? Am I? Am I? Am I? As I began to assess myself the Holy Spirit b areas of intensely out of control. One day my four young men would be husbands or be on their own. Have I prepared them for their wives? One day I woke up thinking, if they left my house and got married, what would their wives say about them? Was I preparing them to be Kings in their own home?

As soon as I settled down the Lord showed me where I missed it, I was so focused on "myself" that I was forgetting to include Him, in raising my sons. A lot of what I was teaching them, even being raised in a "Christian" home, was out of fear and from culture. It wasn't in the admonition of the Lord. It was out of fear and a lot of it was rooted in my own pride, in proving I was a good parent. I had yet to really consult the Lord on HIs wisdom and instruction for them to be raised, I had totally alienated my husband, because I thought I was the better parent, totally out of order and not within the will of the Kingdom. I started by repenting and asking the Lord to give me the wisdom for my son's and to allow me to let their Father to be the man that he needed, so that he could show them how to be king one day, I had to get out my own way.

Prayer: Father give us the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that we need for our children. Also give us the ability to recognize it all. In Jesus Name. Amen

Leading By Example,

LMJ