What we must give (leave) to our children...

As we celebrate the Universal Children's Day*, ask yourself:

"What am I giving to (or even leaving to) my child(ren)?

I found 2 interesting quotes that may seem at odds with a particular Bible verse which follows (depending on the version/interpretation you have). As we dig into it, you'll see that they are aligned.

“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches,
but the spirit of reverence.”

~ Plato

“The greatest gift you can give your children is not your riches,

but revealing to them their own.”

~ Max Lucado

Proverbs 13:22

A good man leaves an inheritance [of moral stability and goodness]

to his children’s children,

and the wealth of the sinner [finds its way eventually]

into the hands of the righteous, for whom it was laid up.
(Amplified)

I know that when you talk to a lot of parents, in addition to a good name and legacy, we all want to leave a really good inheritance - that includes wealth or more directly, money - for our children. Yes, my husband & I want (& plan) to do that among other things - especially as it's scriptural.^ However, I was challenged to rethink that when I read Max Lucado's book: Cure for the Common Life. -> Talking about our role as parents, he said that we should not see our child(ren) as a blank sheet of paper on which to write but as a book that needs to be read (& a "script" to be lived out). A lot of us live by the former but the latter is scriptural...I'll show you where. 

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says

"I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for."**

And He is not referring to only adults because David said this about God in Psalm 139: 16:

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."***

So as parents, it is our responsibility to stay connected to God so we can read the book He's written about our child(ren). Only then can we lead them in the way they should go^^ (grow & glow) knowing that as we follow God's leading (and direct them that way too) they will profit^^^ - and find their own riches as a result of their reverence of God.

So if I could put what we must give (leave) to our children is a sentence it is to:

 "Give them space (& support) to be who (& all) God wants them to be."

One way to do that is take Harry S. Truman's advice: "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."
Your child(ren)'s desire and your advice must align with the Word of God for good success.

The bottom line is:

"Good parents give their children Roots and Wings.

Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them."

~ Jonas Salk

Beyond wishing all of us a Happy Universal Children's Day, I pray we all have happy children wherever in the universe we are on this day. May God bless and keep us.

Sources:
*"We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue to be the most universally cherished aspiration of humankind." ~ We the Children: End-decade review of the follow-up to the World Summit for Children (Report of the Secretary-General (2001)) http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/

^ Prov 19: 14 - People receive houses and money from their parents, but a good wife is a gift from the LORD. (Easy-to-Read Version)

**Good News Translation

***New Living Translation

^^ Prov 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Amplified)

^^^Is 48:17 - Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. (English Standard Version)