IMITATE JEHOVAH WHEN TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN

Make Family  Discussions Enjoyable

Among the best ways to instruct your children are a regular family Bible study and a daily Scriptural discussion.  A family study is most effective when it is regular.  if left  up to chance or to a spur-of-the-moment decision, it is likely to be infrequent at best.  So parents must 'buy out the time' for the study.  (Ephesians 5:15-17)  Coming  up with a definite time that is convenient for all can be a challenge  One family head found that as the children grow older,their different schedules were making it harder to get the whole family together.  Yet, the  family was always together on the nights of the congregation meetings.  The father therefore arranged to have the family study on one of those nights.  This worked out well.  All three children are not baptized servants of Jehovah.

However, it is not enough just to cover some Scriptural material during the study.  Jehovah taught the restored Israelites through the priests, who 'expounded and put meaning into the Law, "giving understanding in the reading."  (Nehemiah 8:8) One father who successfully helped all seven of his children to love Jehovah always retreated to his room before the family study  in order to prepare, tailoring the material to the needs of each child.  He made the study enjoyable for his children.  "The study was always fun,"  recalls one of his grown sons.  "If we were out playing ball in the yard when we were called for the family study, we instantly put our ball away and ran in for the study.  It was one of the most enjoyable evenings in the week."

The psalmist declared:  "Look! Sons are an inheritance from Jehovah; the fruitage of the belly is a reward."  (Psalm 127:3)  Training our children takes time and effort, but doing so properly can mean everlasting life to our young ones.  What a fine reward that would be!  May we, then, eagerly imitate Jehovah when training  our children. However, while parents are entrusted with the responsibility of "bringing [children] up in the discipline of  and mental-regulating of Jehovah," there is no guarantee of success.  (Ephesians 6:4)  Even with the very best care, a child could become rebellious and stop serving Jehovah.  What then? That will be the subject for the next article.

Next time: HOW CAN YOU HELP A '"PRODIGAL" CHILD?

Watchtower, 2001