Pastor Faith Oyedepo: Sunday November 15, 2015 Daily Devotional – A Watchful Eye

Topic: A Watchful Eye [Sunday 15 November, 2015]

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” - 1 Peter 5:8

If being around “24/7” or “firmness” qualifies for well-trained children, I have often wondered why some stay-at-home or strict parents still have ill-mannered children. Some children are very fearful when they are with their parents, but loose when without them. They pretend in the presence of their parents and then “make-up for it” when they’re gone. This brings me to the conclusion that proper upbringing is not in your staying at home consistently, or in giving your children more rules or punishment; it is more in your being “present,” at all times.

This “presence” has little to do with your physical presence, but more of your sensitivity towards them. Some parents get so insensitive that they don’t realize when their children pick up wrong habits until it has fully grown and becomes difficult to curtail. For instance, a child who lies, steals, forges other people’s signature, etc., didn’t develop those habits overnight. It was cultivated over time and would go unnoticed except for your watchfulness.

As parents, you should realize that your major priority asides from providing necessities for your children, is to ensure that they are nurtured in the fear of the Lord. This process of nurturing calls for absolute vigilance. You can’t stop your children from mingling with other children in schools, parks and even in the church. However, you can stop them from cultivating characters that are inappropriate to the godly standard you have set for them.

The only way you would know when such negative habits creep in, is to have a watchful eye. Be sensitive to the changes around them. For instance, know when your child makes a new friend and what impact that friend has on him or her. Take your time to know what they do and where they would be per-time. Don’t act careless with your children; otherwise, when the reparation comes, you would solely bear it. Sensitivity doesn’t cost much, but lack of it costs a whole lot.

Remain Blessed!

Pastor Faith Abiola Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.