Roles and Responsibilities

 

We can all think of different people, different responsibilities, and different roles in many different areas of our lives. The traditional family is made up of father, mother, and children. The extended family includes grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. It is incredibly important that each person involved in the family fulfill their responsibilities by providing, by loving, by protecting, and by training their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to love God, to love their neighbor, and to pursue holiness.

Father and mother have an incredible amount of work before them, which includes living a life that is a good example for their children. When children see their parents speaking and acting in certain ways, they will likely imitate them. The responsibility of the parent is to live a life that is a pursuit of holiness, walking a path that the child will see as worthy of imitating. If one or both of the parents are involved in any kind of immoral or depraved behavior, the child will become confused and will wonder why their behavior does not align with their professed belief.

A parent that abuses their child, does not protect their child, or introduces depravity, sensuality, or perversion to their children are certainly failing for the work that has been set before them. A child should feel safe, feel protected, and know that they are loved by their parents, and should not need to look elsewhere to feel safe and loved.

If a child lives in fear of what their parent may do to them every day, that child will be miserable and terrified about the quality of his or her life. When a child is happy, content, and is excited about spending time with their family, then you can know that the parents are doing something right. It is when a child is frightened of being alone with a parent or other family member that something is seriously wrong.

Psychology experts talk about recognizing behavioral signs or speech patterns in children. It is important to know your child well, to understand if they are happy and content, and if they are not then you need to put in extra effort to help that child feel safe and loved. If you see strange behavior in your child when they are around certain people, you need to uncover what is happening that would make them respond in such a way.

Possibly the most important aspect of being a parent is to train your children to love others, to serve others, and to treat others with respect and honor. Just as Jesus did not live for himself but instead, he sacrificed himself to save mankind from the corruption of sin and death. When a child sees their parents acting and speaking in love toward and about others, the child will imitate them.