Last week I saw something on Facebook that has come across my mind several times. The saying was: “Raise your children and you can spoil your grandchildren. Spoil your children, and you’ll raise your grandchildren.” Isn’t that profound?
In today’s society, we seem to have things so backwards. Parents have surrendered their God-given role of being “trainers” (Proverbs 22:7), and the roles of parent and child are being reversed. This is nothing new. Proverbs 19: 18 warns parents to “Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Yet, parents today would rather be “friends” with their children, than parents. With today’s economy, both parents are usually employed outside of the home. They get home from work, and they’re tired. They only have a few hours to spend with their children each day. They don’t want to hear them cry – it’s much easier for all if they just give in to what the child wants. Children as young as two years old are asked for their opinions and can over-rule what the parent decides, if they start crying. Today’s children will never know the “joy” of belonging to the “Clean Plate Club.” They only eat what they like, and they tend to “graze,” never sitting down to the dinner table. Today’s children don’t have the opportunity for bedtime stories because they don’t have a bedtime – they go to bed or to sleep whenever or wherever they want. Structure is lacking in our homes.
Children are not held responsible for their actions. If a child makes a bad grade, it must be the teacher’s fault. If a child’s sport’s team loses, it doesn’t matter because everyone gets a trophy. Gone are the days when children had to deal with disappointment or the consequences of their behavior. Parents do a lot of threatening, but do they actually carry through with it?
If parents will turn back to God’s way of “raising” their children, they will get to enjoy the thrills of spoiling their grandchildren. But, when children are so spoiled that they lack parental examples, then, they never learn how to be parents. Therefore, they shirk their obligation when they become parents, and their parents end up raising the next generation. What a sad commentary on our society.
I’d like to thank God for all of those good parents who are doing it right. Sometimes, you’re even criticized for standing up and being willing to “be the bad guy!” May God continue to bless you in your good work. You are true heroes! May we all take the God-given task of parenting seriously because it’s so wonderful getting to spoil those grandchildren! Of all the names I’ve been called throughout my life, “Gammy” is my favorite! God Bless, Courtney
AMEN!