Sometime ago I was speaking with a teenage boy who was dressed in a pair of baggy pants, hanging to his knees and his boxers showing from underneath. His hair was afro with a comb handle sticking out from the side. Knowing him that he was in school and very brilliant, I asked him what he wanted to become in life. He said he wanted to become a medical doctor.

I then asked him that if he was sick, would he go to a doctor dressed like he was dressed, or if he became a doctor would he hire a lawyer looking like he did to defend him in a malpractice suit? He couldn’t answer. 

How we are dressed is an indication of the way we are perceived. That boy was unable to answer the question because he knew that no one, not even his baggy wearing friends, would come to his clinic if he dressed like that to work. Imagine him holding the stethoscope with one hand on his patient’s chest and the other hand to rescue his pants from hitting the floor.

 The story of Samuel in 1Sam. 2:18-19 is a story of a boy who was dressed for success. The bible stated that he was ministering to the Lord dressed in linen ephod. Knowing that God will not put a word in the bible without a purpose or reason, I started to think about the lesson to be learned from here. Samuel was only a boy at this time; his mother had left him at Shiloh after he was weaned to learn to become a priest. The bible says that his mother came every year with a new robe because he would have outgrown the other one. Our children must be appropriately dressed for their ministry, and it is the responsibility of the parents to provide appropriate attire for the child.

 There are three areas that I would like to talk about in dressing our children

 Spiritual dressing

Our children must be dressed up spiritually in order to accomplish what God has destined them to be. Prov. 22:6 says that we should teach our children the way of the Lord and when they grow old they will not depart from it. Jer. 35: 5-6, 14 talks about the story of the children of Jonadab who refused to drink wine in adulthood because their father laid the guidelines when they were young. The spirits of our children should be developed even as they are developing physically.

Help your children to make contact with God; do not assume that they have a relationship with God because you bring them to church every Sunday or because you are saved. Salvation of the parents cannot help the child.

Through prayer, locate the calling or the ordination of your child and propel them to it. Jer. 1:5, the bibles talks about Jeremiah being ordained a prophet before he was born. Your child does not have to try different careers before they make it. Prayerfully help them to determine what they are called to be in life. Allow them to take active parts in ministry and in God’s house. Samuel was able to hear from God even at a young age because he was sleeping in the temple with the ark of God. Invest in their foundation as children of God. You will need to invest time, money, resources, prayer and fasting to the spiritual development of your child, but it is worth it. Hannah did the same for Samuel. Speak blessing into the life of your children, don’t ever curse them, you have the power to curse or to bless your child. Do not allow anyone to either seriously or playfully curse them. If this happens, immediately reverse it in the name of Jesus. 

Emotional Dressing

 Your child needs to be emotionally well dressed to function properly in life. An emotionally malnourished child cannot be a good leader in the community or an effective servant of God. No one needs a pastor who is on an emotional roller coaster or a medical doctor who himself needs attention. As a parent, you need to be approachable and easily accessible for your child, allow them to ask questions. Do not allow the TV, computers or the society to be their influence. Say encouraging words to them. You be their influence, let them see you as their role model.

 Physical Dressing

The physical needs of our children are to be met; they need to be well fed with good and balanced diet. Please do not indulge the children with bad food and pray against the diseases of the Egyptians later. If you continue to feed them with the Egyptian foods, you will face the Egyptian repercussions. God will help us.

Let your children appear neat and well groomed. My example in the beginning of the teenage boy indicated that the parents decided that it did not matter how the child appeared. Some people will allow their teenage girls to go around half of their bodies exposed and the other half to the imagination of on lookers. God will help us.  When I want to dress my young children up, I ask myself this question, do they represent Christ truly?  Help your children academically, in setting goals for their careers. Encourage them to have bible based dreams. Teach your children on how to save and spend. Teach them principles of biblical giving and financial accountability. Statistics show that almost 90% of children of wealthy parents end up broke because they are not taught to spend wisely. I recently read about the son of a well known deceased Nigerian millionaire who was arrested for drug trafficking. How did that happen? I thought. Could it be that this young man never learned how to spend widsely? He ran out of money and ended up trafficking drugs to maintain his lifestyle after daddy was gone. 

 The last thing I want to talk about is the importance of discipline in the upbringing of your children. I want to encourage parents to discipline their children with the ROD. When I say the Rod, I mean first and foremost the Word of God. Isa. 11:1 says a rod will come up from the stump or root of Jesse. The bible in Rev. 19:13 calls Jesus the Word of God. When your child does something wrong, look for an appropriate scripture and use it to correct your child, allow them to read that scripture, learn it and inscribe it in their hearts and have them pray with it. Heb 12:5-11.

 Use the physical or substantial rod as necessary and as applicable. Do not stray from the word of God that says in Prov.13:24, “spare the rod and hate the child”, and Prov. 23:13-14 that talks about the discipline. Avoid being abusive, try not to whip your child in anger, rather calm down and pray first.

 Finally, live by example. You cannot give what you do not have. If you are not well and balanced, you cannot affect anyone positively. Let them hear you pray often. Let them see you read your bible and talk about it: they learn better by observation. Live your life for Christ and it will be well with you.

 

Blessings,

Pastor D