Discover Your Child by Martin Wiles

I’ve never thought mine was that amazing, but facts would prove otherwise.

Consider these startling facts about the human body: our stomachs contain acids strong enough to dissolve zinc, our lungs contain 300,000 million tiny blood vessels, our bones are as strong as granite when it comes to supporting weight, each of our kidneys houses one million individual filters that filter 2.2 pints of blood a minute, and our eye’s focusing muscles move about 100,000 times per day.

What’s more amazing is that a divine Creator put all this together. As a parent, this makes me look differently at my child. They’re not just a bag of bones and sometimes aggravation but a unique creation with distinctive gifts and personalities. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it (Psalm 139:14 NLT).

Training my children in the way they should go requires spending sufficient time with them to recognize God’s gifts in them. When I’ve determined this, I can then encourage them to pursue hobbies and professions that allow them to use these talents. I also have to recognize that doing this may not mean they follow in my footsteps.

Children also have distinctive personalities. One of mine has Type B and the other is extremely Type A. What concerns one doesn’t bother the other, but that’s okay. Variety is God’s plan when it comes to personalities, and I’ve discovered that the personality usually fits the talents.

But my parental duty goes beyond simply encouraging my children to pursue their dreams. Parenting also involves guiding them to align their gifts and dreams with God’s plan. Only then have I “trained up a child in the way he should go (Prov. 3:5-6).”

What more can you do to guide your child along God’s path?

Prayer: Give us wisdom merciful Father to guide the little ones You’ve entrusted to our care.

Why not share the encouragement? Pass this devotion along to a friend.