Planting Good Seed in Our Children’s Lives

Sometimes we don’t count the cost of our actions. Or conversely, we don’t recognize the paybacks of our actions.

We know that seeds watered will grow.

We know that.

We get it.

At least I sure thought I had that figured out.

But the other day, the thought that seeds watered, will grow, struck me fully… when I saw my children doing something that I didn’t like and realized it had been taught by me. Unintentionally, yes. It had been years since I had planted the seed but I had been faithfully watering it and now I was seeing the fruition of my example.

Oh, how careful we should be what we set before our children, the things we say, our actions. The dividends for pulling the weeds out of our own life are so great it cannot be overstated. It may seem like forever before we will see the fruits of our labor when our children are young but it really isn’t.

It’s the little actions that we do over and over that make the biggest impact in our children’s lives.

But this works two ways. If we’ve sowed bad seed, we will have to change our example, ask the Lord to forgive us for our slothfulness and pray that He makes all things right, that we in our neglect have allowed to grow.  If we’ve sowed good seed day in and day out, we’ll reap a good harvest and be abundantly blessed in our spirits and lives.

But how do we sow the good and not the bad? Is it impossible when we have so many flaws as humans? There’s always that inner war between good and evil that struggles within us.

It comes down to choices. God won’t force us to make the right choice.  We have a choice of whether we want to take the better path or not.

Choose you this day whom ye will serve.

Joshua 24:15

Sometimes, even when you know what’s the right way, there’s still an internal struggle that goes on.  Here’s a little story about a white dog and a black dog that illustrates this point.

“He said, “there’s been two dogs in me, and one of them a black dog and one of them a white dog.” And said, “They argue all the time.” Said, “They growl and fight at one another.” And said, “The white dog wants me do good; the black dog wants me do bad.”

Said, “Well, Chief, which one of them wins the fight?”

Said, “That depends on which one Chief feeds the most.”

So I think that’s a good answer here. See? There just depends on the warring of the body that’s in you; it depends on which one you cater to, which nature you cater to, the carnal nature after the things of the world, or the spiritual nature after the things of God.  64-0830E Rev. William Marrion Branham

Spending time reading your Bible and praying are never wasted but are exactly what we need to help us choose the right path. It’s feeding that white dog. I used to tell my children the story of the white dog/black dog all the time to encourage them to feed the white dog so it would get bigger and bigger.

Every day, every moment is a new beginning and every time we make the right decision we are choosing the way of the Lord and his blessings..

The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him. Proverbs 20:7