I believe that as parents we are stewards of our children and as stewards it is our duty to help our children to be eager to learn new things, adaptable, emotionally well adjusted and socially responsible. What does being a steward really mean? Both the English dictionary and Mounce’s OT &NT dictionary define a steward as someone who manages or is entrusted with the responsibility of running a household/family. This definition demonstrates why as parents we are stewards of our children – we have been entrusted with the responsibility of looking after our children and managing our homes and families. Psalm 127 v 3 tells that children are a heritage/gift from the lord.

When someone gives you a gift or leaves you a heritage the expectation is that you will look after it with the utmost care. How many times have we seen people shedding tears because an item they cherished has been broken or stolen? Or people saying a certain item has a sentimental value because it has been in the family for generations or it was given to them by a loved one. If that is the case, how much more should we cherish our children who are a gift/heritage from the Lord?

As stewards of our children it is our responsibility to cherish, nourish, and nurture our children. We do this by teaching, training, correcting, admonishing, disciplining and demonstrating this in every area of our lives. All this we do from a heart that is filled with love for our children and a desire to see them fulfil their potential and destiny.  We are stewards of everything we are and everything we have. The following are some of the areas where as parents we teach our children about stewardship:

• Relationships – we must teach/train our children the importance of creating and maintaining healthy relationships.  Do they know how to relate to God, their parents, peers, neighbours and all people in general? Do they know how to apply boundaries in their different relationships? Can they connect, empathize, and recognize the needs of those people around them? Are we as parents demonstrating all this in our own relationships ?

• Their bodies – remember the body is a temple, so how are they caring for after it? How are we helping them to look after their bodies? What do they eat/drink? Are they exercising? Are they doing anything that defiles this temple in any way?

• Gate keeping for our children – What does this mean? Well it means monitoring your children including what they read, watch on TV, what they listen to, who their friends are, where they are going, what time they will be home. Remember what they hear and see will influence their decisions and actions.

Being a steward is not an easy job. So my question to parents is “How do you rate yourself as a steward?”

Exercise

Now after reading this set aside 30 minutes every day to examine the different areas discussed above by answering the questions asked. Are you satisfied with the answers you are getting?  If not what are you going to do to improve those areas that you are not satisfied with? Finally when you have done that how will you know that you are on the right road to being a good steward?

Nellie Phiri

Nellie is the owner of Gracefull Coaching where she coaches parents who are struggling with and finding it challenging to manage children who are displaying difficult behaviour.  She believes that as parents we are stewards of our children and as stewards it is our duty to help our children to be eager to learn new things, adaptable, emotionally well adjusted and socially responsible.  For more information about Gracefull Coaching please feel free to contact Nellie at  +447525 763155 or +441737 552782 or  email: nphiri@gracefullcoaching.co.uk