Raising Children is a Ministry

Another problem evangelicals have is the misunderstanding about what ministry is. We often elevate missionaries to a special class while considering staying home and raising children to be less important. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Holy Scripture is filled with admonitions regarding the value of family in shaping future citizens. Psalms 128:3 and 4 (BBE) is one of these passages showing how godly families will be blessed. "Your wife will be like a fertile vine in the inmost parts of your house: your children will be like olive plants round your table. See! this is the blessing of the worshipper of the Lord."

And as we read in Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) godly parenting generally results in godly adults. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

We also understand how beneficial it is to be a law-abiding person. Proverbs 28:7 (BBE) tells us, "He who keeps the law is a wise son, but he who keeps company with feasters puts shame on his father."

Teaching children to be industrious also produces hard-working adults. As Proverbs 10:5 (BBE) reminds us, "He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame."

Training children how to read the Bible also helps them prosper. Though Joshua 1:8 (BBE) was given to the Israelites, we also benefit by heeding its command. "Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well."

Paul also pointed out how a godly lineage gave his son-in-the-faith his ready acceptance of God's Word. We read in 2 Timothy 1:5 and 6 (BBE) that, "Having in mind your true faith, which first was in your mother's mother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and, I am certain, is now in you. For this reason I say to you, Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power."

I could point out more verses showing how being a mere parent, as some folks think, is an important ministry. Parents needn't feel inferior to missionaries because they aren't in some far-flung land. They have a captive audience to evangelize.

On Saturday, I'll post about small town life and how these places are dying out in North America.