God’s greatest and most precious gift is His love in a little child!

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Every time a child is born there is another soul that is going to live forever! It’s the biggest miracle since the creation of the world! One little babe is worth more than anything man can make and is going to last longer!

Almost two centuries ago men followed the events of General Napoleon’s march of conquest across Europe, waiting with bated breath for any news of the outcome of his various wars. All the while, babies were being born in their own homes. But who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles!

However, in that one year, 18O9, there came into the World several babies who were destined to become stars of the greatest magnitude — William Gladstone, considered by many as Britain’s greatest statesman of the 19th century; Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s most famous Presidents; Alfred Lord Tennyson, the celebrated poet laureate of Britain; and Louis Braille, the blind inventor of the widely used Braille system of reading for the blind! But while they were being born, no one thought of babies, just battles. Yet which of the battles of 18O9 mattered more than the babies of 18O9? Some fancy that God can manage His world only with big battalions, when all the while He is doing it by babies! Whenever a wrong needs righting, or a truth needs preaching, God sends a baby into the world to do it!

A baby is a small member of the home that makes love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, the bankroll smaller, the home happier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.

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A perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house!

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Never minimize the training of your children. Did you know that a child learns 8O% of what he’s going to learn in his whole life before he’s five years old? So think how important it is that you teach them the right things during those first formative years! — It’s going to be 8O% of everything that they’re ever going to learn. No wonder the Bible says that if you train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. (See Proverbs 22:6).

These first five years are extremely important. You can’t wait till your child is five years old before you begin teaching him. Every single day is important, and what they learn each day is important. You as a parent are responsible to see to it that they are not only fed, clothed, protected, and are healthy, but also that they are taught God’s word, trained in His truth and inspired with His love!

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Some people have the wrong idea of just letting their kids go. “If they learn, they learn, and if they don’t, they don’t.” Well, we don’t believe in forcing children to learn something they don’t want to learn, but they do want to learn; they’re happier and feel more fulfilled and at peace when they are learning; and can learn a lot more with your assistance than if you just leave them idle, without any guidance, help or encouragement to learn!

In fact, it is entirely unscriptural and anti-God to leave a child to make up his own mind without first informing, guiding and encouraging him! For “a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame!” (Proverbs 29:15). If you haven’t got the time to train and take care of your children, then for your child’s sake, find someone competent who can, and who does it right and the way you know it ought to be done! That is every parent’s responsibility!-David Brandt Berg

Children are like flowers in your garden: They are a gift from God, but you’ve got to take care of them!

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The kind of person your child is going to be, he is already becoming.

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Throughout the ages no nation has ever had a better friend than the mother who taught her children to pray!

Daniel Webster, early American orator and Secretary of State for three U.S. Presidents, said, “If there is anything in my thoughts or style of writing to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures!”

The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of his time each day. The best thing to spend on children is time!

Always try to treat children with respect and consideration. Greet them when you arrive and say good-bye to them or pray with them when you leave. Try to say goodnight and pray with your children if you can, or if you can’t be there, be sure somebody does.

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The TV can become one of the most destructive forces in the home if not used with great wisdom, prayer, and discretion. Children really should not be allowed free rein to watch any movies or programs they want to without supervision and without your helping them with the choice and selection.

Whenever possible, parents should preview movies or programs before they’re shown to children! Or know the general theme or characteristics of the series to be sure it is good for them. Actually, the ideal would be if parents could watch TV programs with younger children whenever possible, so they can explain things that the kids don’t understand, or dispel any untruths with which they disagree.

That way the TV becomes a teaching tool, instead of an unleashed monster flooding children’s impressionable minds with violence, foolishness and destructive garbage! The criterion should not be, “will it hurt them?” but, “Is it good for them?” Is it profitable, inspiring and does it teach a good lesson?

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The young wife who had recently become a mother met a woman who had nine children. “But how can you manage to take care of nine children? We only have one and he takes all of our time!” the awe-struck young mother asked.

“Well, that’s just it,” the wise mother of nine answered simply. “If one takes all your time, then nine can’t take any more!”

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When God gives you children, they are like a gift on loan from Him. They are His children, God gave them, but He wants you to take care of them and train them. You’ve got to actually feel like it is your duty to God and that you are doing it in obedience and love for Him and for them. And when you’re old, you’ll be thankful that you did your best to raise them with the help and love of God. — And they will be too!

You are investing in eternity when you invest your time, love and effort in your children, because children are forever! Those eternal lives are going to last forever, and everything you’ve put into them is going to count! May God help us to be good stewards of the most precious gifts He’s given us — our children!

Lord, You have promised in Your Word that if we “train up our children in the way they should go, when they are old, they won’t depart from it!” (Proverbs 22:6). Help each mother and father to lovingly, diligently, and prayerfully care for their children, in Jesus’ name, amen. Do you?

- David Brandt Berg

Children Are Forever!, Copyright © 1998-2012, The Family International