December 11

“For to you is the promise, and to your children.” Acts 2:39

The biblical view of children is always that they are God’s gift to us. They are ours on trust from him. You cannot say, “This child is mine,” as if he were exclusively yours, giving you unlimited rights over him until he becomes a man. Such a concept is heathen, not Christian. Christianity never recognizes one’s children as one’s private property. They are a divine trust, to be held for the Giver.

From the first God sees the child as a person with his own rights and privileges. He does not deny the child’s self-respect, nor violate his freedom, nor erase his independent personality when he places him in your hand. He trusts you with him for his good and yours. I would tell parents to be slow in demanding strict obedience from their children, and ask them first to set themselves to be good parents before the Lord.