Tonight we had a special service where we dedicated baby Freddie to the Lord and prayed for him and his family to know God’s blessings and guidance. Ps 78:4 reminds us of the need to tell future generations the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and it is our responsibility to teach our children about God’s miraculous works.
Children learn by watching and doing. They start off as wholly dependent babies, needing parents to feed, clothe, bathe and look after them in every way. Gradually – and messily – they learn to do things themselves – feeding, clothing, crawling, walking and so on. They make many mistakes, but we teach them to persevere and they learn. We looked at teaching our children to cook, and how they need help choosing ingredients, mixing, cutting, and preparing food but then how they learn to cook their own food as a result.
We teach children about God through our own example: through prayer and reading God’s word, through our words and lifestyle and through our involvement in a local church. We tell God’s stories to them and so they can learn to trust God for themselves. Baptism is for those who have made the conscious decision to follow Jesus, and our prayer is that our children will want to do this as they grow older.
A real recipe for life is not about material success, sporting success or financial success. The ingredients for a successful life lie in virtues such as love, kindness, forgiveness, patience, compassion, integrity, faithfulness and gentleness. When we mix these values well, we can live as God wants us to.