PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

We may do the work of the ministry, but the unfitting manner in which we behave and conduct ourselves kills our ministry. Recently, a graduate student in a certain university attacked his three professors because they would not pass him. We cannot say that these professors were not responsible in part for this. If they had spoken softly and wisely, their student would not have been provoked to such an extent. Those professors were trying their best to help this student, but the result was the opposite. Many other professors who heard of this tragedy will now learn to be careful in dealing with students. In principle, it is the same with us. The result, the issue, of our work very much depends on our way of conducting ourselves. We are taking care of the brothers' and sisters' homes, but how do we conduct ourselves, how do we behave, and what way do we take? Even in caring for our children, if we are angry, we will provoke them. We must not do that. Ephesians is a very high book, but it comes down to say, "Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation" (4:26). If we had written Ephesians, we may not have added this word. We may only have spoken the high peaks in the first three and a half chapters of this book, but Paul came down from the high peaks in the second half of chapter four and chapters five and six. These portions are very meaningful. Similarly, James says, "The wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God" (1:20).

John 10 and 21 are chapters on shepherding. Chapter ten speaks of the Lord's coming as the Shepherd. He is the Shepherd, and He is the door in and the door out to the pasture. In 10:10 He says, "I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly," and in verse 11 He says, "I am the good Shepherd." He also says that He lays down His human life for the sake of shepherding. To give life requires shepherding. Without shepherding, it is hard for the divine life to work within us. Chapter twenty-one is a very important appendix on shepherding. John is a book on the divine life, but the divine life depends upon shepherding. Even in our human life, family life, and marriage life there is the need of shepherding, and shepherding requires cherishing. Husbands and wives need to cherish each other all the time. If a couple does not know how to cherish each other, they will have trouble. Parents also need to shepherd their children. If shepherding could be practiced everywhere, the whole of society would become a utopia. Misunderstandings and oppositions mainly come from the shortage of shepherding.

-A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Anaheim, California on August 19, 1996, published in The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 9, October 1998, pp. 5-16.

APPLICATION

1. Why do we need to depend on God's selection in the raising up of our children?

2. Why should parents never spank their children at the time that they are provoked by their children's behavior?

3. What are the two major components of shepherding and how do you apply each to the care of your children?