Kemi Oyedepo: Stop Stressing and Use The Manual!!!

Author: Kemi Oyedepo

Topic: Stop Stressing and Use The Manual!!!

For many of us, when we become parents, we realise that parenting is much more than cuddling and being mesmerized by how cute our children are. As they grow older, they begin to try every ounce of the fruit of the Spirit at work in us (Galatians 5:22-23). One day, I heard a parent who was very agitated tell his child that, “You are not allowing me to be the kind of dad I always dreamed of”. I wondered what that meant and found out that according to the dad, his son was ‘trouble’; in fact, he said that was his son’s middle name. He said he always dreamt of being a loving dad, but his son made it difficult with all his ‘drama and bad behaviour’. That really broke my heart. I told him the fact that he calls his son ‘trouble’ in the first place is part of the reason why that is all he sees. I made him realise that as parents our words over our children carry a lot of weight so we cannot be careless about them.

I told him to speak only positive words, even when his little boy seemed to be misbehaving. I drew wisdom from the scriptures – “Tell him he is a mighty man of valour; tell him he shall be mighty on the earth; tell him God created him as a blessing; tell him he will be the joy of many generations”, and a few others. After a few weeks, when he saw me, he could only say positive things about this same son, and he even began to cry about the fact that he regretted saying negative words to his son in the first place. He was amazed at the rapid change he saw in his boy and said the one word he uses on him now is that he is a blessing.

As parents, we have spiritual authority over our children, particularly when they are young. We have to believe and speak God’s Word continually if we want to enforce satan’s defeat. As you speak His Word, your children learn from you and when they get to the point of understanding and can take responsibility for themselves, all they would speak over themselves and various circumstances is what you have taught them about themselves from God’s Word. The enemy wants us to see our children as burdens, as trouble, as nuisances, even as mistakes. Why? So that they don’t become great on the earth. He knows that how you see them is how you will address them; if you see them as trouble, you will despise them. He knows that if you see past their imperfections and focus on what they can become, you will invest the Word of God into them. My charge to you today is instead of looking at how they are now, look into their future. What do you see? Use that futuristic picture as a guide for how you treat them now. They are meant to be signs and wonders on the earth (Isaiah 8:18).

How do you intend to ensure that happens? God’s Word is the only way you can do that effectively. Keep His Word in your heart and that is all that will proceed out of your mouth concerning your children. Anywhere you find yourself when dealing with your children, don’t get agitated or frustrated. Instead, stop stressing and pick up His Word – the Parenting Manual. Locate scriptures concerning your children, pray over them with those same scriptures and you will see what you say manifest. Forget about how long it will take. The Bible says “…you will reap in due season IF you faint not” (Galatians 6:9)!