Raising God-Fearing Children

Raising God-Fearing Children
By Dr. Betty Price
This week's topic: Mothers  

As a mother and grandmother, I can certainly appreciate the responsibility and honor of raising godly children. It seems that everyday we hear about killings and destruction among our youth to the point that it appears that Satan is winning the war.  

Since God has given the mother the responsibility of nurturing and training the children, I think it is time for us women to take a stand against Satan and his demonic forces in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. Our work starts in our individual homes. And, if we complete our divine assignment in excellence our godly efforts will be passed on from generation to generation.

It is impossible to raise godly children without the Word of God as your guide. We raised our children in the fear of God, so we really didn’t have a lot of problems. God’s Word works. We used it on our daughters and they came through those difficult teen years without any problems: no drugs, drinking, smoking, or sex. They came up godly in the midst of the drug scene. We put the fear of God in them. You, as a parent must live right before your children and let them see God in your life, and then they’ll know that God is real.

As many of you know, in our old age, and quite to our surprise, we had a son. I had two grown daughters and an eleven and half year old girl, and then we had this boy. Actually, our first child was a boy. He was killed by a car while crossing the street when he was only eight years old. His name was Frederick K.C. Price, III, after his father and grandfather. Frederick is our second son, and we named him Frederick Price. Many people call him Price, Jr. although he is not really the junior. When Freddie came along, Fred and I thought we were through having children, but God had other plans for us. Before he was born, we received a prophecy that the child I was carrying would be a boy, and he would help my husband in the ministry, just as our first son would have done, had Satan not stolen his life. The prophecy came to pass, and Frederick, an Assistant Pastor at Crenshaw Christian Center, is proving to be a wonderful blessing to his father and me, the ministry, and most of all to the Lord.

We raised him the same way we raised our daughters, because based on the Word of God we believe boys should be sexually pure as well as girls. We made sure he stayed free from drugs, smoking, and alcohol just as we did our daughters. There are all kinds of risqué programs on television, and if the parents are not watchful, kids will look at them. We didn’t just go and turn the television off and tell him he could not look at television, if we saw him watching them. We would say to him, “We don’t do those things in this house. No sex until you are married.” We kept that before him. Fred and I would talk to him about the things he had to face out in the world, and the pitfalls Satan has for young men. I would tell him all the time, “Don’t get yourself off in a corner with some girl and start getting your feelings all bothered.” You have to tell your children what is out there, and then expect God to back you up. When they are tempted to get in certain situations, God will bring what you have taught them to their remembrance if you keep it before them. Sometimes it brings stress; because it costs something to raise godly children because they want to do all the things that they see other kids do. Some parents are afraid to chastise their kids, thinking they are going to run away. Give your children to God and go on and do what is right. They will appreciate it later.

First Peter 5:7 tells us: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."  

A lot of Christians think those are just beautiful words to read, and they don’t apply them personally, but you can apply the Word of God personally in your life. That is what we did in raising our children and today they are all working for the Lord!

Excerpt from the book “Wisdom From Above, Volume 1” by Dr. Betty Price

Scripture Of The Day: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV)