Psalm 127: 3 “Behold, children are a gift (heritage) from the Lord.” There is often a far different view of children based on the spiritual walk of the parents and particularly the father as leader.  Many parents today simply take their children for granted and do not value them as God’s precious gifts to them.  They are both a gift and a heritage for whom we are accountable to God as stewards of what He has placed into our care.  Unfortunately, some parents want children who demand little more from them in the way of love, leadership and care than their pets.  This is selfishness and irresponsibility at its worst.  The Christian father will fight this current war every day as his children interact with other children who do not have discipline, responsibility and direction in life from their parents and father.  Broken homes and absent fathers place a huge tug of war on children and place them in an environment that often leads to all types of cultural downfalls and problems.

If children are gifts to us, what are the greatest gifts that we can give them?  We need to give them roots and wings.  Roots lie in core spiritual values, attitudes and self worth in Jesus.  Wings grow from acceptance of responsibility and decision making, which enables children to fly freely as independent adults when the time comes.  This loss of “roots and wings” often leads to the pursuit of “loot and things,” and other tragic results.  Salvation through Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of a child ever to all of mankind.  There is no greater gift or heritage that we can give to our children than Jesus.  This should be Goal Number Uno for every parent as we take on the care of God’s gifts to us.