“Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice” – Proverbs 23:25
Scriptures present clear insight into the practices that produce POSITIVE PARENTAL IMPACT: “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice” (Pro.23:25). According to this meditation passage, positive parental impact is achieved through loving discipline, the guidance of wisdom, the teaching of self-control, and a lifelong bond of honour and respect. This passage frames parenting as a serious, long-term assignment; a full-time, all-life ministry, with profound, life-saving outcomes for a child. Parental roles encompass meeting a child's multi-faceted needs from cradle to young adulthood.
Positive parental impact is produced through Instilling discipline and guidance: “Do not withhold correction from a child, for of you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell” (vv.13-14). Loving correction prevents destruction. While referencing the "rod," the main message is that loving correction and guidance are vital to steer a child away from self-destructive paths. A child left to their own folly is at risk of spiritual and physical ruin.
When positively corrected, wise children bring joy to their parents: “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice – indeed, I myself; Yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things” (vv.15-16). The ultimate reward for parents is not just an obedient child, but one who develops a wise heart, tongue, and deeds. This wisdom is not gained by chance, but is the fruit of deliberate, loving guidance. The child's wise character brings deep-seated fulfilment to the parents. Cultivating such wisdom that’s “zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day” carries an eternal perspective: “For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off” (vv.17-18). This helps a child value eternal blessings over fleeting worldly pleasures (vv.19-21).
Positive parental impact demands warning the children against overindulgence; guarding them from the dangers of excess, such as association with "the drunkard" and "the glutton.” Lack of self-control and unrestrained appetites lead to ruin (v.21). True wisdom involves mastering one's desires; hence, the instruction for children to value parental wisdom; and to “listen” to and obey the parents on a life-long basis, even as they age (v.22). Children are urged to acquire and guard truth: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it” (v.23). This is a command to avidly gain wisdom and hold on to it, which brings joy to the parents.
The ultimate positive impact is achieved when parents guide their children's hearts towards God; hence the final appeal: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways” (v.26). Parents are to shepherd their children toward a relationship with the divine, including having their own actions serve as a model for the children to follow.
Adetokunbo O. Ilesanmi (Meditations)
No tweets to display now.
The vision of KCOM is that:
"the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas" (Habakkuk 2:14).
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Copyright © 2013–2025 Kingdom Capstone Outreach Ministry. | Designed by ZoeWox Technologies