CULTIVATING THANKFULNESS IN OUR KIDS

I’ve always thought one of the greatest

responsibilities a man or woman can have is

to parent a child. Because it is God

entrusting you with His own treasure to

protect, provide for, lead and teach to walk

in His ways.

The Bible reveals that the way we train our

child now is the way he will go when he is

grown (Proverbs 22:6). Implying that parents

need to be mindful of what they instill in

their children right from their tender age.

As Christians, our basis for living is in the

word of God, therefore our children – God’s

children should be taught and led in the

ways of God.

The topic is Cultivating thankfulness in our

kids.

The Bible says, “it is a good thing to give

thanks to the Lord”. Psalm 92: 1

Many parents in my part of the world (which

I believe is not quite different from the rest

of the world) tend to teach their kids to say

“thank you” to them for a gift they bought

them or “thank you” to an Aunt and Uncle

for the new socks or dress they got them,

which is really beautiful and aplaudable.

However, parents must bear in mind that

thankfulness doesn’t end there. There is a

God who has been/ is orchestrating

everything in our lives and “It is a good thing

to give thanks to Him” because “every good

and perfect gift is from Him”. We can raise

thankful kids by first helping them discover

God’s goodness in their life.

But how do you help your child realize the

goodness of God in His life and be grateful

for it?

Many step-by-step approaches has been

given by various family bloggers but I am

convinced that it doesn’t get simpler than

this:

BE THANKFUL TO GOD YOURSELF.

Your being a mummy or a daddy means you

have an in-road into your child’s life, that is,

you have more influence on your child’s life.

And because every child learns by doing as

you do and not as you say.

You as the mom/ dad need to be an

example by recognizing the goodness of God

in your life personally and testifying about it;

talk about it to your child’s hearing when you

sit, when you walk, when you lie down and

rise up” (Deuteronomy 6: 7). Make it a

lifestyle to always see something to thank

God for.

Did you get a new job?

Bought a new car?

Cleared up your bills?

Paid the kids’ school fees?

Travelled safely?

Got yourself a new gadget?

Anything?

These are things to thank God for. You

couldn’t do anything by your power.

When your life is full of thanks and joy to

the Lord for His goodness. your child can’t

miss it.

Then you can talk about and show him how

God has been good to his life also, Then you

can make him understand God was the One

who gave him understanding and wisdom to

be able to top the class; God was the One

who created him beautiful which is why

people always say “he’s adorable”, that it

was through God’s provision you were able

to get him the toy etc. Enlightening your

child is key to leading him to thank God on

his own.

This attitude of gratefulness strengthens our

child’s faith and relationship with God.

Thankfulness to God means being spiritually

minded, that’s why kids shouldn’t be

“commanded into” it. Many parents who

desire this for their child miss this part and

go about teaching their child thankfulness

the wrong way and may end up with children

who are not really convinced about God’s

goodness in the long run.

Every revolution you want to see in your

child’s life starts with you and what you do

in the four corners of your home.

So I implore every homes to see the need to

cultivate the habit of thankfulness in not just

their kids but in their own lives as well

which is the starting point.

My prayer is that as we put this into

practice in our various homes, the

multiplication that comes with thankfulness

will be ours because there is always…

always a multiplication story to a thankful

heart causing us to have more and more

reasons to always say ‘THANK YOU LORD’.

Thanks a bunch for reading through.

God bless you.