Parenting takes commitment

A reporter for the U.S. News and World Report from 1994 once wrote on our culture's view of parenting:
"Americans are so shaped and stamped by their legacy of individualism that the concepts of community virtue and moral obligation have been discredited.  In our popular culture, adulthood is too often defined as doing what you want to do, not what you are supposed to do. Making a baby is a sign of status, while caring for one is not. Right and wrong are old-fashioned, politically incorrect concepts. And sin? Forget it...Half of all Americans who marry and have children eventually divorce. For many, marriage is more like a hobby than a commitment, a phase instead of a trust. We are becoming a country of deadbeat dads who don't pay their bills and dead-tired moms who work two jobs to pick up the slack. Even many parents who pay for their children don't pay attention to their children. In so doing, they miss out on some of life's greatest joys: hearing a small giggle or holding a small hand. Probably the best thing that society can do for its toddlers is to make 'parent' an honorable title again. No job is more important, yet no job is more often taken for granted. We teach work skills but not life skills, how to change a carburetor but not a diaper, how to treat a customer but not a kid. Becoming a parent should be...a sign of a lasting relationship, not just a passing infatuation; a source of pride, and not remorse. Only then will our children be safe."

Although the article wasn't written from a Christ-centered viewpoint, it points out many flaws in our views of parenting. In order to raise Godly children, we must first be committed. 

We have to be commitment to parenting. When we become a parent, we realize the extra work required to train a child. Our responsibility moves past changing diapers and providing food, but also includes teaching our children Godly principles and values, correcting them when they disobey and helping them see God's plan for their lives.

As single parents, we ought to thank God that He has blessed us with our children.  We should never take for granted the lives he has allowed us to shape.  Our responsibility as single parents is more difficult than others, but with God's help we can be just as successful as any parent at seeing our children grow to love God and serve Him.

Are you committed to raising godly children? Being committed to raising Godly children takes work, but God trusted us when He gave us our children and it is foolish of us to take that trust lightly.

Let's determine that no matter what we've done in the past, we are going to be committed to raising our children the way that God wants and expects us to raise our children.  We only get one chance!