Children are a Gift from the Lord
Psalm
127:3 says, “Children a heritage from the Lord.” (New International Version).
The Hebrew word translated as heritage is “nachalah,” which means possession,
property, or inheritance. Since an inheritance is not something one has earned
through one’s own efforts but is given as a gift, New American Standard Bible
translates it “Children are a gift from the Lord.”
One
of the reasons that children are a gift to their parents is because parents can
express their love to their children. Humans are happy not only when they
receive love, but also when they can express love. It is because humans were
created in the image of God who is love. Children are the ideal objects to
which parents can express their love which is located deep inside. While
raising their children, parents can enjoy the blessing of watching their
children grow and the blessing of sharing love with them. As their children
grow, parents play the role of taking care of them. In the meantime, it is easy
for parents to mistake their children as their own. However, after growing up
under their parents for a certain period, children should leave their parents
and live an independent life. In that sense, children are not objects of
possession to their parents. Children have their own life. However, the
relationship between parents and children does not disappear. Therefore,
children are not a gift that parents can possess, but they are a gift of
relationship to their parents.
Therefore,
the very reason that children are a gift from God is because parents can have a
loving relationship with their children. The time of raising children is an
opportunity to form a loving relationship with them. If parents use this
opportunity well, they can enjoy the blessing of a lifelong loving relationship
with their children. However, if parents think of their children as their
possession and manipulate them as they please, both the children and the
parents will not be happy.
Gifts
become more meaningful when we understand the intention of God who gave the
gifts. God’s intention in giving children as gifts to parents was not to
possess them, but to have a loving relationship with them, by which parents
reveal the image of God who is love. God will be pleased when we reveal his
image.
Children
are not only a gift from God but also a heritage from God. In the Old
Testament, the word ‘heritage’ or ‘inheritance’ is used to refer to the land
given to each tribe when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan after the
Exodus. It was a gift to the Israelites. However, the Israelites had to take
care of this gift according to the will of God, who is the true owner of the
land. Likewise, children are also a heritage given to parents by God. Just as
the true owner of the land was God, the owner of the children is God who has
given life to the children. Parents are God’s stewards who are responsible for raising
their children. Their responsibility is to take care of the children on God’s
behalf.
Since
a steward works on behalf of his master, he should not work as he pleases but
according to the will of his master. Likewise, parents should not raise their
children as they please but according to the will of God, the master of their
children’s lives. Therefore, children are not gifts given to parents with
ownership, but gifts entrusted to them with the responsibility to care for and
lead the children. In other words, children are beings that God, the master,
has entrusted parents to raise them. Just as the land of Canaan to the
Israelites was a gift from God and at the same time an object to be cultivated
and managed according to God’s will, children are gifts from God to parents and
at the same time an object to be cared for and led according to the will of
God, the master.
Parents
should respect their children because God is the owner of the children, and
they are beings sent into the world through their parents with a plan and
purpose by God. Therefore, parents should not control their children as they
please but should become guides who teach their children God's will and lead
them so that they can fulfill God's plan and purpose for them.
In
short, children are a gift from God to parents, but they are not gifts with
ownership. The owner of this gift is still God. This gift is a gift entrusted
with responsibility, so raising children can be called a mission. Parents
should be faithful stewards before God when raising their children. (JinGyung
Park/Yang) | 
