Nurturing Strong & Courageous Sons and Daughters

by Sally Matheny

Strong and Courageous
Photo by pixaby.com

Too often, we hear heartbreaking stories of youth, raised in Christian homes, choosing to walk away from the truth of Jesus Christ.

It’s frightening.

As Christian parents, we find it difficult to contemplate the possibility of our children living, and dying, without the hope, the peace, and the eternal joy that comes only through Christ.

What can parents do when the Enemy silently creeps into our children’s lives and captivates their attention with lies and deception? How can we help them?

Ultimately, our children must decide for themselves who they will follow and serve. However, God has entrusted us with their upbringing. It’s our honor and responsibility to nurture our sons and daughters, and teach them how to be strong and courageous.

Psalm 144:10-12 says,

“to the One who gives victory to the king,

who delivers his servant David.

From the deadly sword deliver me;
rescue me from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,whose right hands are deceitful.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, 

and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.”

The passage does not say when they are grown, but “in their youth.”

“Nurtured” and “carved” things require a personal touch. The actions take time, thought, and effort.

Well-nurtured plants are able to withstand the pull of the winds and the pressure of the storms. Their strength comes from their formative roots.

Likewise, the carving of palace pillars requires gentle shaping and guiding to produce not only a source of beauty, but also strength.

In order to nurture strong and courageous sons and daughters, we parents must stay in a constant, strong relationship with our Creator God.

The parent in Psalm 144 is crying out to God to deliver him from those who lie and deceive so that he can encourage his sons and guide his daughters to do the same.

In addition to prayer, our plan of defense against the enemy is entrenching our roots deeper in God’s Word. The Bible is an essential tool for cultivating strength and weeding out Satan's lies.

Our children regularly need to see what Christ-powered strength and courage look like. How do we parents respond when we face adversity, persecution, and uncertainties?

We need to share our stories with the next generation. Tell them of the times we cried out to God in the midst of our troubles. And even disclose the moments we did not turn to God and reveal the consequences of those decisions.

We can inspire our children with stories about others who have grown in strength and courage. People of the past such as Noah, Joshua, and David.

Or people of today, such as the eleven-year-old Christian Iraqi girl, Maryam, who was forced to leave her home due to the ISIS persecution of Christians. 

Maryam was one of many, but she chose to speak out with love and forgiveness. 

She also sent a message to other Christian children stating, 

“They don’t need to be frightened and also, things that happen in their lives, they should learn from us and our lives.” 

She added, 

“This should not be to get something or to get glory for ourselves. It is for the sake of God, because God lives, and we want to do everything for the glory of God and also for exalting God in our lives.”

I’m searching for more true stories of strong and courageous youth. If you know of one, I’d love to hear from you. Whether it’s about youth sharing their faith, mustering up courage to do something difficult, or whatever it is--if they learned that God was the source of their strength, then I'd like to hear their story.

"There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, 

no crying of distress in our streets. 

Blessed is the people of whom this is true;

blessed is the people whose God is the Lord."   

Psalm 144:14-15