Raising Children for the Kingdom

“Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.”

Proverbs 27:23 (ESV)

We must remember where it all begins: our ministry starts at home. There, in the midst of daily life often challenging and imperfect,

God has entrusted us with the most valuable lives of all: our family. Time and again, He reminds me that my first ministry begins with them, with those who live under our roof.

We are not simply raising children or seeking for them to just be “happy.” We are raising sons and daughters to live for the Kingdom. We do not raise them merely to attend church on Sundays, but to become men and women whose purpose is to love, to live for Jesus, to extend His Kingdom, and to fulfill His eternal purpose.

Our children are not a project; they are divine designs, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that they should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).Each one was formed by God with a name, identity, calling, talents, personality, strengths, weaknesses, and unique spiritual gifts. They were not created to conform to this world but to transform it. We are in this world, but we are not of it.

As parents, our task is to be diligent in knowing the condition of our children to train and instruct them in the ways of God; to guide them with love and firmness; to help them discover who they are in Christ and lead them toward a life of purpose. May every step we take draw them closer to living for the glory of God.

They are arrows in the hands of a warrior, prepared to one day be released toward the eternal purpose for which they were created. And even when those arrows are released when they are no longer at home, or even if right now they are not walking with the Lord, we remain Kingdom parents, and they will always be our children.

We will continue praying, believing, and declaring that “He who began a good work in them will bring it to completion.” We will keep encouraging and loving them with our hearts set on the eternal, trusting that every word sown in faith will not return empty.

Our calling begins in the presence of God and is reflected in the home. There we learn to love, to serve, and to reflect Christ. May the Holy Spirit give us vision and reveal how to see our family as a sacred mission, where the arrows are being formed and prepared to be released to fulfill His purpose.

“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame.” Psalm 127:4–5 (ESV)

Let us not stop watching over them with diligence and faith. Let us continue praying, believing, and loving because one day we will see the fruit of the Kingdom in their lives.

The Father’s heart never stops pursuing, loving, and extending grace just as we once received it.

By Paulina Rodríguez