Parents tell their kids what to do, but kids remember actions far longer than words. Your daily choices affect your kids and seeds are sown that are either fruitful or unfruitful. You may have had a parent that constantly sowed seeds of mistrust, dishonesty and lack of love, but you can change this behavior and help guide future generations to walk with God. Yup, it all starts with the mundane daily choices.

Consider the following:

  • Do you lie to your kids or to others with your kids present? Parents often start dishonest behavior very young to make life easier. It may start with avoiding a tantrum by lying to your child about giving them juice when you actually poured them milk.
  • Do you follow through on your promises? If you tell your child you will give them a weekly allowance, then follow through with it. It may only seem like a few dollars to you, but it’s a huge deal to your child! If you slip up once or twice your child will be more forgiving as long as their allowance (and other promises) is a priority. This communicates to them how important it is to be trustworthy.
  • Do you tell your kids to eat healthy and then make poor choices for yourself? You are not just mom or dad, you are the one guiding your child’s future struggles with food or building a solid foundation that will help them excel and support a healthy lifestyle.

These examples may seem mundane to some, but your choices are sowing seeds that turn into habits. Yes, your kids can make changes as adults, but it’s so much easier to mold a child than change an adult. If you want your kids to be truthful, then you need to be honest with them! Don’t make promises you can’t or don’t intend on fulfilling. When you do this you are teaching them to become manipulative and use the people around them.

We have to eat everyday and this comes with a series of small daily choices. I’m not here to judge your eating habits, but to help you reflect on what your child is learning. The food choices you sow now will become life-long habits for them later!

Being a parent is a huge responsibility and we are not called to be perfect (that’s impossible!), but we are called to follow what the Bible says and do the best we can. It takes a huge amount of courage to make the right decisions for your family at times, especially if you are working on turning your unfruitful behavior from seeds your parents sowed into seeds bearing everlasting fruit.

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

And always remember that your words are seeds. Declare that the negative seeds that have been sown over your life fall to the ground and bear no fruit. Then ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you make better choices for you and family.

 

Seated in Him,

Shevon L. Sampson