Saturday, September 1, 2007

Good and Bad Appetites




What appetites have been cultivated in your children?

No, I am not talking about food---instead I am talking about those things of which your children have set their affections on, what they desire and what they want or would like to incorporate in their lives.

That being said, I want you to take a good look at your children (I have already done this with mine too many times to count). What appetites do you see have grown into their lives? Are they good--are they bad? Most importantly:

Do they line up with the biblical goals for your family?

In order to know that, you need to actually have biblical goals for your family. Here is an example:

Purity. Your biblical goal for your child and family is to live a life of purity. Therefore you will not want to cultivate an appetite that would do the opposite of that. You probably would not let your child have free run of the TV for risk of what their eyes would see or learning poor ideas about relationships. You would not have magazines around the house that they might browse through that have scantily clad women on the cover or the inside. You would be careful to warn them about the dangers of dating and not urge them to have a boyfriend/girlfriend in any subtle form. You wouldn't allow them free run of the computer in case of them running into pornography or the like. We also wouldn't allow them to run with crowds that we knew were practicing immorality lest they be tempted likewise.

Does this make sense? See, wrong appetites can pull a child's heart from the Lord and from their parents. Positive appetites can do just the opposite. As we consider what biblical goals we have for our children and what influences we will allow in their lives, we need to be wise in considering what appetite of each of these might cultivate.







We want to point our children to the Lord, loving His Word, contentment, gratitude, fellowship with other believers, witnessing to the lost, serving others and obedience to God. It can be hard to do that if their hearts are wrapped up in worldly pleasures and peer influence so much so that their hearts turn cold to these things that are most important. As parents, we much watch over our children with diligence to see how they are progressing in this area. 

If we see negative influences or appetites that are drawing them away from those important things I listed above (which is by no means exhaustive, as I could've written a very long list but for lack of time an space chose just to list a few of the most significant goals) we must be careful to protect and to lead them back into the paths of good appetites. 

Sometimes it can even be a good thing like extra activities or sports. Too much of even what we might deem ' good things' in a child's life, without balance, can have the same affect. If we are wise parents we will understand the power of appetites and how they affect reaching biblical goals for our children.

So again I ask, what are your children's appetites?









4 comments:

Mrs. Anna T said...

When I speak about my desire to have (God willing) many children, while staying at home and fulfilling my feminine role as a keeper at home, I often get response such as, 'but your children will miss all the THINGS you will not be able to afford!' - I think it depends on which values children are taught, though. Thank you for this post.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your heart on this much needed encouragement. It is so rare to hear talk of appetites. I just found your blog last night and i am very glad. You go girl. Teaching them to be lovers of husbands,children and their homes-lovely! Grateful to you. tammy

Anonymous said...

I also enjoy reading your blogsight. Your message is very important in this day when there seems to be so many options that draw our children's hearts away from the Lord and their family. This is a subtle trick that the devil uses and we must remain diligent. Feeding the flesh never produces godly character and we will reap what we sow.

Lord, make us Wise

Anonymous said...

I am so grateful for this sight...I cannot even tell you how much. This has ministered to my heart so much. I am the mother of 3...9 yr old stepdaughter, 3 yr old son, and 16mo. daughter. I homeschool my stepdaughter, and love it and her. My stepdaughter has a variety of issues I'm sure pertaining to her extremely difficult emotional situation. I am wondering if there are other stepmommies that visit this sight that would have some Godly counsel in this step-mom/step-daughter relationship? I really need some counsel on several particular issues, and we do not have the finances to go to a professional counselor.
I so desperatly want her to know our Lord in such a real and personal way, and she is such a little "robot" for lack of a better term, in how she responds to EVERYTHING in life. I never know what she is thinking because she is so emotion-less, and it especially makes discipline very hard...I feel like it's a gussing game with her.
Well...I could go on and on, but that would not be necessary! :o) I would be so grateful for some posts on this aspect of blessed motherhood, although it is not God's best, or His perfect will for families....many Christian women are being called to be step-mothers. I don't think I would have chosen this! But, neither would I have it differently because the Lord made it so clear that I was to marry her daddy.
Thank you for your help, and/or suggestions of you are able.
May the Lord richly bless your day... I prayed for you this morning!
Because of Jesus,
Sarah

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