The little baby born into your home is a lovely creation. As
you look down on it for the first time, you exclaim, “She looks like her
father”, or “He has eyes just like his mother”. You watch for the first smile,
the first tooth, the first step, and the first words.
There is a reason for your being proud: you have been a
partner with God in creating him. God saw fit to give you and your husband a
share in His creative power. To think that the Almighty God should give to men
and women this power which belongs to Him alone makes marriage a sacred
experience. Our share in God’s creative power is a part of the Lord’s wonderful
plan for mankind.
Since this creative power is God-given, the occasion when
husband and wife unite physically should be a very beautiful and noble
experience, for do they not bring into being the beginning of a new life? It is
God’s plan that this union should be one which will draw husband and wife
nearer to each other, and nearer to God.
Success in teaching our children about these things depends
to a large extent on how we ourselves feel about them. If we understand that
the marriage relationship is an experience that brings us nearer to each other
and nearer to God, then we shall know how to inform our little ones of the
marvelous power of creation that has implanted in each one’s body.
When we understand that this relationship between husband
and wife is something pure and uplifting that God has bestowed upon us because
He loves us, then we shall not make it something to laugh about. It will be so
very precious to us that we shall want our children to understand it as being
sacred before God, to be looked forward to as something that belongs only to
marriage.
Thus we shall help our young people to understand that this
experience is for husband and wife, and not for unmarried people. It should not
be something for a separate house for the young people to use as they wish in
the evenings, while the older ones engage elsewhere in their own conversation?
When should we explain all this intricate story to our
children? Not all at once. Tell it little by little, answering each question as
it comes from their lips. It may take years to complete the story, but as we
unfold it to them, let them feel that the story is wonderful; also, let them
know that you are telling them the truth. Here is an example of how to tell a
child this sublime story:
“When you came into the world, little child, you were a
baby. You had eyes, nose, mouth, you had tiny little arms and legs, you had a
heart and lungs, and every part f you was as it is now, but very much smaller.
But you were not always this way. You had to grow to be a baby. You grew from a
tiny egg. This is how we all began living. The biggest man, and the smallest
person, each grew from a tiny egg. You came into the world as a baby, but
before you were a baby you were just such a tiny egg”…
Parents should know where their children are, what they are
doing, and with what kind of playmates they are associating. If they fall into
vulgar habits not becoming to Christian young people, God will surely hold us
as parents responsible. We wish to guard them from Satan’s influence more
carefully than the herd boy guards his sheep and goats against prowling hyenas
or leopards.
As our little boys and girls are growing up, a respect for
the opposite sex should be developed that will be a bulwark to the young people
in later life. This attitude will help the young people to keep from undue
familiarities during the years of their lives when the sexual emotions are
developing and becoming strong.
Tags:
parenting