Last week, I read about a 7-year old Indian boy who could only communicate by chirping and flapping his arms. Guess why? He was raised in aviary by his mum and she did not talk to him at all since his birth till the time he was discovered by social workers. He had learnt to communicate like the birds he’d been exposed to all his life, one can only wonder what kind of experiment his mum was making of her son. However, before you point your fingers to accuse her of child abuse or call her a lunatic; consider what kind of influence you are directly or inadvertently exposing your own children to on a daily basis.
Babies are born with an enviable apparent innocence- pink and cuddly, smiling in their sleep, they appear to be the perfect picture of purity. However, just how pure they grow up to be is a function of what kind of environment they find in the home and the kind of training received from the parents. If you find a little child using swear-words; it is only reasonable to deduce that such words are in the average vocabulary parlance of the parents. This is because language development as with all other forms of development in children is a function of stimulation. What kind of social stimulation do you give your child?
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
To train here means to instruct deliberately, to coach, tutor or induct. The main task of a parent is to bring up these little ones in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
And the fathers! provoke not your children, but nourish them in the instruction and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
Apostle Paul was talking directly to fathers here as the head of the home, to make their instructions to the children such that the child will obey. Although, it is the duty of children to obey their parents, the parent also has a responsibility to maintain such a character and home administration that it’ll be proper for the child to obey.
Do not provoke your children by unreasonable commands, by being unduly harsh or by displaying anger. This is child abuse! Christian parents are allowed to discipline or punish their children if necessary, but not in anger. Do it in such a way that your child will not lose confidence in you but will love you. This love will make your known wishes a law for them; your child will like to bring you pleasure by fulfilling your wishes.
Feed your children with God’s word not swear-words, it is your duty to guard their minds, because at the early stages they cannot do it by themselves. Children are highly impressionable, if you leave them to watch the just any kind of movie or listen to just any kind of music; you may realize too late just how much it does matter!
There’re plenty of good, godly materials in Christian bookshops targeted at helping you nourish your children in the way of God. Take the time to purchase these cartoons, videos, books, sing-along tapes etc. that will positively stimulate your child. Their toys should also have Christian undertones; rather than buy a gun for your four year-old at the toy shop, why not buy him a story-set of ‘The Good Samaritan’? Put up posters with godly characters and verses of scripture in their rooms instead of the heroes of our time who wear revealing clothes and live on drugs. The input you give to your children will determine their output.
(To be continued…)
– ifelayo ojo
| Invest your time for eternity
Invest your life for the life to be Forever gone are the hours you’ve lost Don’t waste your life; count again the cost;
Your money place in the Saviour’s hand It’s only safe when in heaven’s strand You never lose what you give to God But lose all else when you withhold;
Invest your work in the Saviour’s plan Work hard for God and His will for man Don’t count the hours that you toil and plod You will reap again all you do for God;
Don’t waste your life for a passing joy Don’t sell your soul for a fragile toy Give till it hurts; give your very blood You live but once; LIVE ALL OUT FOR GOD. – segun eshorun |
– anonymous |
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” – Psalms 90:12
In every nation of the world the most identifiable factor remains her currency. In America it is the Dollar, in Europe it is the Euro and in Nigeria it is the Naira; however, the currency we spend in life generally is ‘time’. Every leader that seeks relevance, significance and excellence in his sphere of influence must master the art of ‘Time Management’.
If we follow the medical counsel to sleep 8 hours a day in order to stay healthy and we follow it through for 60 years, we would have slept for 20 years at the 60th birthday. This is because 8 hours a day means a third of the day since a day has 24 of those hours.
Customarily, time is never enough for all of us. There is always so much more to be done and our best bet is to prioritize our events and activities. Concentrate on the most result and goal oriented items and leave the rest till time permits.
A wise man once said, “I have so much to do today that I cannot afford not to pray”. How about that! Trust God for wisdom and guidance in your decision making and be the best at your chosen priority. Teach us to number our days, Oh Lord!
Never waste your currency for earth’s course. Use it wisely, use your time well by applying your heart to wisdom.
– Rev. David Sanda
Make yourself accountable. Know that accountability is a sign of strength not weakness because it means that you have a good character. Understand that no one is beyond the need for accountability. The more you attempt to do for God, the more you need to be accountable. Trust God to help you do the right thing in private as well as in public. Think and pray about other people you can ask to be your accountability partner. As partners, ask each other the hard questions and be willing to challenge one another to remain faithful in all areas of lives. Accountability will help protect your testimony as a Christian and make you a successful witness for Christ. Be accountable to someone else before you require the same from any other person.
Pay attention to life’s details such as returning phone call or writing thank you notes. Know that if you are great in little things you will build integrity with others. Be loyal to Christ and to the people you have important relationships, such as your spouse, sibling, children and Christian friends. Show people that they can rely on you. Work diligently at your tasks, giving everything you undertake your best efforts.
-gabriel ajibade
Keep confidences. Strive to be a person other people can trust. When someone gives you some information on the condition that you don’t share it with anyone, make sure you don’t. Offer other people wise counsel. Live with integrity. Nurture a passionate devotional life, spending time daily reading and meditating on the Bible. Balance your life with fun. Let it be visible that you aren’t one of those stereotypical, overly serious and no-fun religious people. Give yourself permission to enjoy life and laugh at your at your own foibles.
Have courage. Refuse to back down when taking a stand is necessary. Refuse to keep quiet when speaking up is necessary. Refuse to look in the other direction whenpressing on is necessary. Never compromise your convictions. Be willing to confront people lovingly when necessary. When facing a problem or challenge, concentrate only on finding solutions. Forgive others and seek to be a peacemaker.
– gabriel ajibade
Being a person of influence to those around you require that you are a little kinder than is necessary in every situation. Treat people the way you want them to treat you (Luke 6:31). Ask God to give you genuine care and concern for people. Commit to being available to people in need and express God’s love to them. Never look down on anyone. Realize that by underestimating a person, you’re de-valuing his creator. Expect God to give you plenty of opportunities to touch people’s life. When God presents an opportunity, take it or it will be lost.
Learn to say ‘no’ with sensitivity to people’s feelings, so as not to offend them. Refuse to be negative; always strive to embrace the positive in your attitude and relationship with people. Ask God to help you discern the appropriate way to encourage people in every situation you come across. Everyone thirsts to have a taste of God’s love; this love is what you have and what you can give.
We live in an age where most believers are only committed to their education, ordination and profession, but God expects you to be committed to people.
– gabriel ajibade
No matter your station in life, you can update yourself so that you can be a person of influence to those around you. In the next few weeks, you will receive a series of articles designed to challenge you to leave “the rest” behind and move on to higher level in your walk with God. This is the first part:
Update your life by taking cognizance of how God has directed your steps, orchestrated your schedule and allowed you to experience certain things to make you more usable and stable in your walk. Understand that your only assignment is to be in God’s will at all time.
You don’t have to be particularly smart, strong or rich for God to use you. Know that God looks for faith, purity, holiness and obedience. Seek to develop those qualities. Surround yourself with the very best people, listen to them, learn from them and let them be a challenge to excite your passion to live for God. See, the world does not remember the rest, it only remembers the best.
– gabriel_ajibade
I am borne of a Dad who believes in work 24-7. When I was growing up he would wake us up before dawn……even when no work was being done in the farm. He just wanted us to start doing something as early as five in the morning. I am not a proponent of working on and on and as such my life would be really unpleasant when the clock hit five in the morning. My brother copied him in this and he would make us work in the farm from six in the morning to six in the evening, the only break being a thirty-minute spell of swallowing food (not eating) nicknamed ‘lunch break’. It reached a point where our brother would allot the farm area to be worked on to each one of us, albeit some of us being younger and energetically challenged. At the end of my first day, my hands had developed blisters and my shoulders were stinging with aches. From the second day onwards, my palms developed hard gravel-textured protrusions such that whenever I shook other people’s hands, they would exclaim….oh your hands are so rough! My shoulders and back developed incessant pains. In the evening, we would apply pain balm on our bodies. It seemed like slavery. Absolutely! It was like the case of the Israelites at the hands of the odious Egyptians. My father managed to push some values into our lives…..though via hairsplitting methods. I thank him anyhow.
Then, my pastor came up with a sermon about those who do not work. Based on the scriptures, these should not eat at all. That affirmed my belief that life was about three things: Work, Work and Work. What my pastor didn’t say is that hard work does not mean roving throughout, like the earth which rotates nonstop.
But as time went on, I reached a point in life when my body stopped functioning like a thermometer, measuring the intensity of the fatigue, and instead started working like a thermostat, as a regulatory device that would make sure the body goes off whenever exhausted. I would experience serious thundering pulses on my head. That was when I was in my third year in campus and exams littered my life. I hopped from campus exams to professional exams ad infinitum. The results? Engine-knocks as it were. Serious headaches faced me. I went to the campus clinic and the doctor told me that I had symptoms of a person who had continuously engaged his mind without a rest. I have always labeled doctors as pure guessers, especially those with limited experience and professional qualifications like him. But this time around, I admittedly nodded….. “That’s right; I have been reading without a rest for the last eighteen months (on the lower side)”.
‘All work without play makes Jack a dull boy’ is not just ancient English saying. In deed it has become as practical as never before, as witnessed by inventions such as retreats, fun days, crazy Olympics, holidaying and indoor working that have marked the 21st century. Mankind has realized that there needs a balance between work and life.
The question of how to spend time wisely is an age-old riddle which can only be solved by applying the scriptures. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 sums up everything……there is time for everything. And Genesis 2:2 reads: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.Are you wondering how you would strike a balance between work and life? Is the seesaw in your life tilting in one direction, threatening to throw you off-balance? Is your life clogged by a nerve-racking job? Or is your boss angry with you for your hands-off attitude to your work? The answers to both these diametric questions are hidden in the many pages of the Holy Book, the Bible. We will present some of them to you here. Stay with us.
– johnstone katuku
A recent survey that was conducted in the country where I live revealed that most people die about two to five years after they stop working (retire). One of the reasons for this is because over the years, they have only been dedicated to their work. In other words, their life has been centred on their work, so when there was no work to do, there was no life to live.
Do you currently have a job; business or something good you do that puts money in your purse? If your answer is positive, I will like you to imagine you stopped doing all such things today. What other events would you have left in your life? If they are very negligible, then you may be heading the way of most of the retirees in my country.
Don’t get too scared yet because this webpage is dedicated to give you useful tips on how to live a ‘balanced life’.
– tope aladenusi