MAIN TEXT: Ex. 20:12
MEMORY:
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (Ex.20:12)

The honour mindset is the mindset that makes you to train your children to attract the blessings of God by honouring their parents, both biological and spiritual. If you possess this mindset, you will do the following:

Demonstrate the mindset by honouring your own parents.
If you want your children to honour you, they may need to see it in the way you honour your own parents. When you speak to your parents, do you accord them respect? If you do so, your children are watching you. When your parents advise you, how do you take it? Sometimes, the advice they give may be at variance with current realities, but the way you discard the idea matters. Don’t forget that a time will come too that you will give outdated advice to your children in the future, will you be happy if they discard the idea as if you are a fool?

Let your children value your role and sacrifices in their lives.
They must know the reason why certain decisions are taken concerning them so that they will appreciate your role in their lives. Let them have a feeling of some of the sacrifices you made concerning them.

Don’t diminish the value of the efforts of your spouse over the children.
Comparatively, you may have the privilege of contributing more than your spouse into the life of the children materially or otherwise. However, you must not consequently make the children to look down on the meager efforts of your spouse. When you are running down your spouse for the children to value you more, it often backfires and reduces your own value.

Make them to believe that parents will normally not lead them astray.
You must earn the trust of your children enough for them to believe that you cannot lead them astray.

They must learn to accept the discipline of their parents.
Your children must learn to see your discipline as an act of love. Often, lack of understanding leads to rebellion among especially teenagers. You must teach them that discipline is an act of love; they must not interpret it as a sign of cruelty or hatred.

Let There Be Unity Of Purpose Between You And Your Spouse.
One of the ways through which you can demonstrate the honour mindset is by being united in purpose with your spouse. If there is an issue of discipline at home and you take different stands and are openly antagonistic of each other, you will be sending the wrong message that will diminish your value in the reckoning of your children.

It is important to know that as you teach them to honour their biological parents, you should also do for their spiritual parents. Their spiritual heads are to be honoured for them not to miss their spiritual and material blessings.

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• In what ways can we model the honour mindset in this home?

PRAYER
LORD, teach me to train my children in a way that will make them to honour both their biological and spiritual parents in the future in Jesus’ name.

Text: 1Cor.9:24-27
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.(1Cor.9:27)

This mindset makes you to train your child to be in control of his feelings and overcomes his weaknesses. It will make him to own up in his areas of weaknesses and avoid blaming others for his own errors. A self-disciplined person will become a force to reckon with in life.
Self-disciplined mindset will make you to emphasize the following to your children:

There is Consequence for Wrong decisions.
Your child should be made to know that just as there is reward for good behavior, there is also consequence for wrong decisions. He should be made to deliberately work on himself from going against set rules even when it is inconvenient for him to do so.

Let them understand the golden rule.
Let them know that if you are doing unto others what you don’t want them to do to you, you are either being outright wicked or a hypocrite (Matt.7:12). Consequently, before they do anything to others, they should ask themselves how they will feel if it is done to them.

Instructions must be followed.
Let them know that unless permission to differ has been sought and received, instructions once given must be followed. Anyone who deliberately flouts instructions given without genuine cause or permission to do so is an irresponsible person.

Own up when wrong.
Teach them that anyone who gives excuse for wrongdoing will still do the same thing and even worse later in the future. Let your children know that persistent giving of excuses is one of the life-features of irresponsible people.

Forgo present consumption to invest in the future.
The self-disciplined mindset will make you to teach your children to learn how to forgo present pleasures in order to direct their resources to future gratifications. Those who are not able to delay gratifications will not be able to invest for future use.

Let them understand due process and avoid shortcuts.
Avoidance of due process is a feature of people who are not self-disciplined. There is therefore the need for you to train your child to go through due process. Once they get used to it from their youthful age, it will help them to take the right decisions in the future.

Let them understand that there is time for everything.
Part of the self-disciplined lifestyle which you need to imbibe in your children is doing the right thing at the right time. (Eccl.3:1-8)

Your relationship with your spouse serves as the laboratory to demonstrate the practice of so many of the godly virtues you wish to teach your children. Let it be seen in you and your spouse that you practice what you are teaching them.

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• In what ways can we do more in training our children to be self-disciplined in their endeavors?

PRAYER
LORD, help me to raise ssel-disciplined children in Jesus’ name.

ANYONE WHO GIVES EXCUSE FOR FAULTY ACTIONS WILL COMMIT MORE ATROCITIES IN THE FUTURE. -Dr. Mike Oluniyi

Text: 2Cor.9:6-9
MEMORY:
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6

The Cheerful Giver
The following facts you must demonstrate and teach your children if you possess the sowing mindset:

Sowing is not usually easy.
Everyone wants to reap but only few are ready to sow because it is not easy to part with your hard earned money, sacrifice your time or make use of your talent freely.

Often, people you sow into their lives may not be the ones to pay back.
Often, people you sow into their lives will be ungrateful to you later, but that should not prevent you from sowing into other people’s lives.

You will harvest in the order of the seed you sow. Let your children know that whatsoever you sow is what you will reap. If while you were young, you get yourself involved in activities that make others to cry, your days of crying are definitely coming.(Gal.6:7-9)


Reaping is often intangible.
Let them know that one fact that makes many people not to sow is that reaping is often intangible. In other words, the nature of reaping may not necessarily be physical; it may not be something to be held physically but it is real.

Often, sowing appears stupid due to easier alternatives.
You must let your children know that the time of sowing is often time that others will see as being foolishly spent but if you are persistent, the time of reaping will come and those who felt that you were wasting time will see the testimony of reaping in your life.


You will actually lose something by sowing, but the harvest will be greater.
Just as the crops harvested cannot be compared with the seed sown, what you harvest through sowing cannot be compared with what you have lost while sowing.

Reaping what you sow actually transcends your own generation.
In a way that no one actually understands how it happens, whatever you sow may be reaped not by you only but by your children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. (Ex.20:5)

There is appointed time for sowing and reaping.
Every farmer knows that there is a right time to sow. If you fail to sow at that time, you will suffer lack in the future. Teach your children that they must invest their time, talent and treasure at the right time. (Eccl.3:1-8)


DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• In what ways can we sow spiritually and into the life of others and teach our children to do so?

PRAYER
I receive the grace of a sower and also the grace to impart it into my children so that we shall reap in due season in Jesus’ name.


QUOTABLE QUOTE
DON’T BOTHER YOURSELF IF PEOPLE YOU SOW INTO THEIR LIVES ARE NOT APPRECIATIVE; THEY ARE OFTEN NOT THE ONES THAT WILL REPAY YOU. -Dr. Mike Oluniyi

Text: Gal. 6:7-9
MEMORY:
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Go (Gal.6:7)

The sowing mindset in parenting makes you to teach your children the necessity of sowing into the life of others. One great tragedy in the world today is that many individuals are striving to reap when they have not sown and it is leading to so many vices that the human society is battling with. Some of such vices are laziness, stealing and all forms of corruption. These vices are prevalent because we have many who do not seem to know that there is no free meal anywhere; whenever it appears as if you are getting something free, there is someone somewhere who had earlier sowed. There are three vital areas of sowing which your child must learn.
• You must sow spiritually to God and to the life of others. Sowing spiritually unto God means spending time to fellowship with God towards the development of an intimate relationship. Sowing spiritually into the lives of others means that the spiritual welfare through praying for them is important to you.
• You must sow materially to God and into the life of others. Sowing materially unto God is all about being ready to commit your resources to the advancement of the gospel. The starting point of being ready to sow materially into kingdom matters is the faithful payment of your tithe, your bountiful offerings and commitment to kingdom projects. (2Cor.9:6)

There is also the need to sow materially into the life of others especially widows, orphans and generally the needy around us.(Jam.1:27)


• You must sow time in service to God and others. The sowing mindset will make you to let your children know that their time is not only for them. They must be taught that they should invest a considerable percentage of their time in service to God and others.
• You must sow your talent to God and others.
You must let them know through your own demonstration that they need to often sow their talent by using it without expecting to be remunerated.

The possession of the sowing mindset is therefore important for you in raising children that will be useful to God, the society and himself.

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• In what ways are we demonstrating the sowing mindset to our children?



PRAYER
LORD, help me to model the sowing mindset to my children so that they may be useful to you in Jesus’ name.

QUOTABLE QUOTE
LEARN TO SOW INTO THE LIFE OF THOSE IN THEIR REAPING SEASON, YOUR OWN SEASON OF REAPING WILL ATTRACT THE SOWING OF OTHERS TOO. -Dr. Mike Oluniyi

MAIN TEXT: Ps. 127:3-5
MEMORY:
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward…(Ps.127:3)

This mindset makes you to see God as the owner of your child and that you are just a steward who will ultimately render account of how you raised the child to God.
Please note the following as caretaker of the children that God has given you:

You are not the property owner but a privileged representative.
Look around, you will discover those of your age, who never had the privilege of having their own children. Some of them never had the privilege of getting married in the first place while there are those who got married but never experienced the joy of parenthood through no fault of theirs. That you got married and have your children should be a source of appreciation to God by you because the story is not the same for everyone.

You are to care for the property according to the instructions of the owner.
If your children belong to Him, it follows that you must take care of the property the way the owner asked you to do it. One of the most important assignments of the owner of the children is that of teaching and training.
Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Prov.22.6)

You must neither abuse nor allow the abuse of the property.
As a parent, you have a responsibility of ensuring that your children are always paid attention to, so that they don’t get into wrong hands.

Your wages will depend on how satisfactory your stewardship of the property is.
God has not asked you to labour in vain over these children. When you bring them up in the ways of the Lord, fulfillment is one of the most significant wages that you will receive for your stewardship over them. (Ps.127:4-5)

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. (Psa.127:4-5)

However long it takes, a time of accountability will come.
Prophet Eli was a great man of God. However, in the area of the training of his children, he was a failure. Though he succeeded as a prophet of the LORD, he failed in the area of the training of his children.(1Sam.3:11-14)

The Way You Handle Your Children May Determine How Joyful Your End Will Be.
There are people who spend their later years in sorrow and even die early as a result of the effects of lack of training in the life of their children.

As a caretaker, you must take your assignment seriously and ensure that you do not disappoint God that gave you the assignment. May you not fail God in Jesus’ name.

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• In what ways have we been raising our children in the ways of the LORD?

PRAYER
I receive the grace to bring up my children in the will of God in Jesus’ name.



QUOTABLE QUOTE
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CHILDREN, YOUR JOY DURING OLD AGE MAY DEPEND HEAVILY ON HOW SUCCESSFULLY YOU TRAIN THEM. – Dr. Mike Oluniyi