For many years the Lord has been teaching me about children. There are children of the Lord, children of the church and children of humans.
Although, I know what we say can effect children, I never thought calling them "kids" was abusive or harmful. Doesn't everyone call them kids?
Two women ministered to me about what we call children and how it can effect their spiritual being which will always effect their physical beings. Of course I've caught both of them calling
How often do we call our children kids? What is a kid? A young goat. Jesus didn't tell Peter to feed His goats. He told Peter to feed His lambs.
There are no kids of God. Not one kid of God is mentioned in the entire Bible!! Kids are little goats-the hard headed, independent, curious, roaming, and climbing animals. One day the Lord is going to seperate the goats from His sheep. Don't we want our little lambs to be in the flock of sheep? Of course we do.
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT) says this:
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
I looked in many Bible versions and NONE of them I looked at said, direct your kids.
Part of directing our children is what we say. Scripture teaches us what comes out of our mouths defiles us.
Several times in the Bible we see where the Lord or human changed the name of a person. Names are important-what we call things are important. Adam (man) called woman Eve after they had sinned. (Reaffirming the blessing that the Lord had given her in the beginning). We know that Abram was later called Abraham. There are many others in the Bible that could be used for an example. One about children is found in Genesis 35.
Rachel had hoped for, wished for and prayed for another son-she only had one son- Joseph. The Lord heard her and blessed her with Benjamin. But when he was born Rachel called him her sorrow. Jacob renamed his beloved youngest child, he didn't think of him as his sorrow.
Genesis 35: 18 (NLT)
18 Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).
Most of us know words can hurt or comfort. Most of us know that names in the Bible are important. But Most of us don't stop and think about all the words we use. We speak out of habit, like saying "Our kids....." "the kids' ministry" and so forth. Does it matter? I believe it does.
Are we wanting to feed and direct the Lord's flock of lambs until He returns or are we wanting to herd goats and try to get them to submit to direction?
Kids (young goats) are known to be very curious and independent. They enjoy roaming and getting into things. At times we can lead them, other times they may decide they don't want to be led. They can be unruly and unpredictable. It's not uncommon for them to head butt things.
Lambs (young sheep) are calmer and easier to lead. They enjoy being with the flock (family). They are more gentile than a kid.
We want lambs, but we often struggle with goats. We sabatoge ourselves. We shouldn't sabatoge our children's lives though.
(John 10:27 NLT) Jesus said:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
In John 21: 15-19 Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs and sheep.
In Mark 10: 14 (NLT) Jesus says:
When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
1 John 5:4 (NLT)
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
Ezekiel 34:17 (NLT)
“And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.
Matthew 25: 33 (NLT)
He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
When we say "children" we are voicing what we say we believe. They are children of God. They are the sheep that will be at His right hand.
Always remember:
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. (Psalm 127:3 NLT)
When we speak to our children or about them, let our words express the truth.
