LET THEM BE PROUD OF US
LET THEM BE PROUD OF US
A story went something like this about a young miscreant who had wreaked so much havoc in the neighbourhood that when he was finally brought to book people were extremely happy. His sentence was death by the firing squad.( I believe.) On his last day besides having a religious cleric pray for him one of his last wishes was to see his mother. She was brought to him and he pulled her close in a tight embrace as though to whisper in her ears and then all of a sudden the woman let out a scream as she jumped away from him, blood oozing down what was left of her ear. The young man had bitten off her ear saying that when he was doing things wrong as a child she should have never encouraged him but should have disciplined him instead. So we can conclude here that this young man was not proud of his mother. Because as far as he was concerned she was the reason why his life was coming to an end in such a way.
“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.” Proverbs 17:6 NLT Very often and also very easily, we say to our children “I am proud of you, well done!”; whenever they do something excellent or remarkable. And that is fine. But our children are also expected to be proud of us ( parents) as is written in the above scripture of Proverbs 17:6 ( New Living Translation)
Why would our children not be proud of us anyway? Quite honestly that is a question that I am NOT going to answer. Let us all do some serious soul – searching and be true to ourselves as we answer the question. Do we always act and conduct ourselves in ways that will make our children proud of us? Are we always decently dressed? How do we speak to the hired help? ( Even when you are feeling frustrated with them?) Are you forever running late? Do they hear you speak “white lies” when you are on the phone? Have you ever had to tell your child to tell a guest who came to visit that you were not home , when you were right there at home? Have they seen you beating up their mother? Do they see you take money from their fathers pockets and hear you tell him that you did not take the money? Are they aware that you paid the teacher to score them high on the test? Is your daughter aware that you were dating her friend’s father while her father (your husband) was away on a course? Like I said, we have to examine ourselves. And hopefully be willing to make amends if we fall short.
It is our responsibility to ensure that our children are not swallowed up by all that is going on around us now. We must do whatever it takes to keep them on the straight and narrow. “Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.” Proverbs 19:18 NLT That mother whose son bit off her ear had already ruined his life and there was no more hope for him. Simply put it was too late! She failed to discipline him when he erred. Her discipline would not not have meant that she did not love him. Far from that! “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” Hebrews 12 : 6 NLT There you heard it. It is the ones God loves that He disciplines. So nothing wrong with discipline. Most of us have turned out the way we are today because of the discipline that we received from our own parents. And so,if we say we love our children we must not be afraid to discipline them.
Could we be any wiser than Solomon? His Proverbs are indeed filled with wisdom. Hear what he has to say; “A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness, but physical discipline will drive it far away.” Proverbs 22 : 15 NLT
Let us do our very best to raise Godly offspring. Let us do all that we do as unto the Lord and let us not be found wanting as we train them up in the way that they should go. They will be proud of us too.
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©