From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents,
One of the traits that we want our children to develop is the trait of being a hard worker. Often children look at work as a bad thing. But work is actually a good thing. In fact, God told Adam that He wanted him to work the Garden of Eden; and that command came before Adam and Eve sinned. So work is good; it is not the result of sin. The difficulty of work is the result of sin.
So how can we develop our children to be hard workers? I believe there are three major characteristics to being a hard worker . The first is faithfulness. The Bible says “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Cor. 4:1). People who have been granted responsibilities must be faithful to do what they have been given to do. Faithfulness is essentially following through. In most situations that means doing the job day in and day out. We don’t always feel like fulfilling our responsibilities, but the person who is faithful can be counted on to do them. You can develop faithfulness in your child by making sure that he does his household chores every day and by making sure he does all of his homework every day. This actually requires faithfulness on your part to inspect daily what you expect. Could it be that our children drop the ball in their faithfulness because we as parents drop the ball in our faithfulness?
The second characteristic of a hard worker is perseverance. We all run into difficult situations in fulfilling our responsibilities. What makes the difference is how we handle those difficulties. Do we quit, or do we persevere. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Pro. 24:10). Your child will get weary in doing his duties. Encourage him to keep going, but also require that he keep going. Do your children see you persevere through difficulties? There is a balance to knowing how far a child can go; but if he can keep going in finishing a task, he should keep going.
The third characteristic of being a hard worker is whole-heartedness. A child might do what is required of him, but he might do it half-heartedly, doing just enough to get by? This pattern of laziness will catch up to him in short order and will punish him for his entire life, unless he changes that pattern. The direction Scripture takes is to put forth maximum effort in what we do: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecc. 9:10). Part of trying one’s hardest is trying one’s best. Excellence is connected to whole-heartedness. Hard workers have a high standard. So require a high standard, and don’t be satisfied until your child has reached his personal, age-appropriate potential. At the same time reward the high standard, not only when he reaches the standard, but also as he moves in the direction of reaching the standard. A reward could be sincere verbal praise or it could be doing something special.
I hope this can be a help to you. The Lord has given us wonderful treasures in our children, and we need to develop them to His glory. Remember, as we train our children, we must train them to be hard workers.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton
Dear Parents,
One of the traits that we want our children to develop is the trait of being a hard worker. Often children look at work as a bad thing. But work is actually a good thing. In fact, God told Adam that He wanted him to work the Garden of Eden; and that command came before Adam and Eve sinned. So work is good; it is not the result of sin. The difficulty of work is the result of sin.
So how can we develop our children to be hard workers? I believe there are three major characteristics to being a hard worker . The first is faithfulness. The Bible says “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Cor. 4:1). People who have been granted responsibilities must be faithful to do what they have been given to do. Faithfulness is essentially following through. In most situations that means doing the job day in and day out. We don’t always feel like fulfilling our responsibilities, but the person who is faithful can be counted on to do them. You can develop faithfulness in your child by making sure that he does his household chores every day and by making sure he does all of his homework every day. This actually requires faithfulness on your part to inspect daily what you expect. Could it be that our children drop the ball in their faithfulness because we as parents drop the ball in our faithfulness?
The second characteristic of a hard worker is perseverance. We all run into difficult situations in fulfilling our responsibilities. What makes the difference is how we handle those difficulties. Do we quit, or do we persevere. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Pro. 24:10). Your child will get weary in doing his duties. Encourage him to keep going, but also require that he keep going. Do your children see you persevere through difficulties? There is a balance to knowing how far a child can go; but if he can keep going in finishing a task, he should keep going.
The third characteristic of being a hard worker is whole-heartedness. A child might do what is required of him, but he might do it half-heartedly, doing just enough to get by? This pattern of laziness will catch up to him in short order and will punish him for his entire life, unless he changes that pattern. The direction Scripture takes is to put forth maximum effort in what we do: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecc. 9:10). Part of trying one’s hardest is trying one’s best. Excellence is connected to whole-heartedness. Hard workers have a high standard. So require a high standard, and don’t be satisfied until your child has reached his personal, age-appropriate potential. At the same time reward the high standard, not only when he reaches the standard, but also as he moves in the direction of reaching the standard. A reward could be sincere verbal praise or it could be doing something special.
I hope this can be a help to you. The Lord has given us wonderful treasures in our children, and we need to develop them to His glory. Remember, as we train our children, we must train them to be hard workers.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton