1 Samuel 3:13 (NKJV)

“For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.”

Parenting is serious business. The failure to parent well may cause you and your family – untold amounts of pain and suffering. Parenting is a divine assignment that we must not take lightly. Raising up a posterity in the ways of God is one of the greatest battles that any generation of leaders will face. Parenting is not just with your nuclear family. Parenting in this context refers to influencing the leaders of tomorrow. What we do with the younger generation today will determine what the world will look like tomorrow.

God’s pronounced judgment on Eli’s family was because Eli failed to retrain his children. God’s judgment was not because “his sons made themselves vile.” God’s punishment was because Eli knew these things and yet failed to call them to order. Parenting requires deliberate and intentional restraining. If we continue to give our young ones the freedom to do anything and everything they want, then we have failed. We have been given a divine mandate to safe guard the future, and the primary way to do that is through intentional parenting. Success, victory, prosperity and blessings flow from one generation to the next when parenting is successful. Parenting is the deliberate and focused process of forming those God has given us to nurture. Parenting is the social discipline that creates the culture of tomorrow. No other behavioral investment creates more sustainable future patterns for any community – like parenting. Who are you parenting?

“Lord, I determine to grow my involvement and investment into the future. Lord, I will make time and effort to pour into those you have brought to me. Where necessary Lord, I will restrain and hold them back from pursuing whatever may jeopardize their future and the future of our world. Give me the courage to do the needful. In Jesus name. Amen.”