The Bible states that we should train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. How that works day to day has a rhythm of spiritual wonder and potential. We are to make our lives a study of our children, observing those things they are interested in and have a bent for. After observing those traits, we are to build a pattern for their lives, directing them into those gifts and re-enforcing their interest in them.

When our daughter Jubilee was young, there were many things she had an innate ability to do with ease, and also those things that only came to pass through intense struggle on her part. The final outcome of the two processes were a night and day difference. It became increasingly obvious that emphasizing and endorsing her natural abilities was a success pattern for her life.

With that in mind, we set a course of continually studying her, tailoring her schooling, recreational activities, social interaction, and personal tastes to develop her God-given abilities. The results have been quite wonderful. There is a quiet peace in her direction for life. (There are also life skills she acquired that came from having to meet the challenges associated with those things she achieved through great struggle.) It’s almost as if the Lord gave her new abilities because she had such freedom to flow in her natural tendencies.

Men, begin to make it your life’s work to study your children. Participate with your wife in planning their lives around their natural abilities. Watch them meet the challenges with an anointing that is God-given as they prosper in Him. You will be amazed at the freedom they have to succeed. Sounds worth pursuing, doesn’t it?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett