HOW do we raise our children to be godly adults and remain godly in our troubled, fast-degenerating world that is ruled by materialism, hedonism, pluralism, relativism and secularism? How indeed, can we raise children who will respect authority, obey the covenant of marriage no matter what the cost, value friendship and human beings above things. In short, God -fearing and –pleasing adults.
Solution: Build character, and not just any character, but godly character.
“We tend to focus on the behaviour or conduct of our children,” said Dr V Gilbert Beers at a recent seminar in Kuala Lumpur that was attended by some 300 parents, teachers and those involved in teaching children representing 71 churches, para-church organisations and others. “We don’t grow godly children by merely helping them change their conduct. That’s because character drives conduct. Conduct is what we do. Character is who we are. It shapes conduct. And who we are is shaped by belief, what we believe. So, believe become, and behave,” he taught.
His 16-year-old grandson, Kevin Cathey, who was his co-speaker, added: “Someone once said that character is what you do when you’re not thinking.”
Dr Beers conducted the seminar to introduce the Character Building programme which he designed to guide parents and teachers to help their children grow God’s way – according to the Bible. The programme comes in the form of a one-year devotional book titled I want to be like JESUS. It contains 50 Bible stories (one for each week), with each story teaching a value, or what he termed, “building block of life”.
The programme follows three simple steps: Growing Belief, Growing Character, and Growing Conduct. Building character begins with growing belief. For example, if a child believes honesty is right, he will want to become honest. Belief builds character, which then shapes conduct.
The 71-year-old author of many books reminded the participants that the ultimate goal is to help their children to become godly people in Christ Jesus. Hence, they are “builders” in a scheme where God is the “Architect”. As builders, they are to shape their charges with the proper tools. Some of the tools he has found effective and indispensable in his parenting experience are prayer, family traditions, role modelling and heritage building – an unbroken chain of influence passed down from generation to generation.
I want to be like Jesus is available from Gladsounds at RM20 per set. The seminar was jointly organised by NECF Malaysia, Scripture Union, Children at Risk Network and Focus on the Family Malaysia. |
