Stubborn_ Refusing to move or to change one’s opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.

You know it is hard to listen to instructions and actually obey them. Especially when those instructions are coming from some cold, and unfriendly person; be it parents, relatives, etc. However, none of us desire to be stubborn or called stubborn.

As a parent, how do you train your child not to become stubborn? How do you equip your child with good life skills so that they are mentally, and physically adequate?

This advice may sound scriptural or spiritual, but I encourage you to be open minded about it. Should you feel uncomfortable with the ‘spiritual’ touch of this message, would you please take the spirituality out of it, and work with what is left?

Every child automatic tendency is to do whatever they feel like, running errands at their own time, or not even doing it, playing all night long if they would be allowed, eat anyhow they like, etc. These things may seem superficial, but there are the other ones which when not control would come out as a character flaw in their adult life. How do you train a child? How do you bring up a clueless child to become wise? It is by the word of God.

Note, me saying the Word of God doesn’t mean you should introduce the Word of God to the child at your own convenient time. If you want an easy pass in parenting, introduce the Word of God to the child early; as early as they know how to say No. Don’t wait till they are teens, and have tasted the fruits of the ‘tree of good and evil’ before you come and ‘preach’ them.

If you have been too late, you could still start anyway from now. But if you are in time, and your child is still young, equip yourself with the Word, so that you don’t only speak it to him/her, but model it before him/her.

We were all born and shaped in iniquity. None of us know right from wrong unless we have been led, taught, or have experienced the consequences of previous mistakes.

Please parents, don’t wait till it is too late before you introduce your child to the Word of God. The Word of God is the light of men. This world that we are living in is dark, and that is why the Word of God admonishes us to let our light shine before men. If the world wasn’t dark, there wouldn’t have been any need for us to shine our lights. This goes to imply that, if you leave your child to fend for him/herself psychologically or emotionally, it will just be only a matter of time, and you would see your baby crumpling down like a failed building.

If you love your child this much, then introduce Christ to him through the study and teaching of the Word of God. If you do, even when you have left the earth, your son wouldn’t feel alone or left out, for Christ (through the Word of God) will still exist for him even when you are gone.

Also, the Word of God works on a person’s spirit, and then his mind. We are all spirit beings. Parental instructions work on our minds, but we can ignore them with our will. But when the instruction (the Word of God) gets into our spirits, it transforms us from there, we have little to do but to obey and live accordingly. Thus, “The life I live now it is not I who live but Christ lives in me.”

Do you want Christ in your home?

            Do you want Christ in your children?

                        Do you want to have a happy parenting?

Then introduce your child to the Word of God before social media trains him.

Introduce your child to the Word of God even before school.

Faith they say come from hearing. So even if you think your child may not understand the Word of God because he is just 1 year old, just keep reading the pages of the Bible to him like you would read a bed time story.

If babies in the womb can respond to their mothers reading to them, or touching them (their bellies), how much more when they have grown to a whole 1 year? Please don’t try to reason out things with your mind, because you may not understand it all. Just begin to read to them even if you think you are wasting your time. It would be like a refreshing water on their seeds of greatness and obedience. Besides, you would be updating your knowledge of the Word also as you read the Bible to your children.

The world is getting darker day by day. And as long as we continue to shelve the Word of God (the light of men), the world will grow darker. So arm your child with the Word, and he wouldn’t be affected by the world no matter the weight of darkness around. Remember, in the days of Noah, amongst all the people on earth, he, Noah was the only person found blameless in the sight of God.

So don’t worry about tomorrow or have any fear. Just arm your child with the Word of God, and he wouldn’t walk in darkness ever; he wouldn’t choose wrong friends [Psalm 1:1-3], his decisions will be based on wisdom [Proverbs], and he wouldn’t spend his strength on vanities [Ecclesiastes].

The Lord be with you in Jesus’ Name. Amen.