When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her – Ruth 1:18
I am a parent. Therefore, let me talk for a moment to you who are also parents.
Is parenting a good investment? How would you answer this?
Well, one way of thinking about it would be whether children wind up being economically beneficial. By investment, do you mean that once they grow up, your children end up making enough money for you to recover much of your principal? I doubt this is often the case. The amount of money you spent on your kids versus what you get back in monetary form is way below your principal investment, right?
But perhaps children are a different sort of investment, where you put money in to get something else of even greater value such as admiration, pride and respect. So, maybe it is better to say that parenting is more of a wise purchase than an investment.
When you think about it, children aren't enough of a benefit to justify the cost. So what's the purpose, then? Well, you get to grant another being in existence, nurture, devotion, and sacrifice, all of which they will never fully appreciate. And that is precisely why you don't become a parent because it's a good investment. You become a parent because it's a God-like investment. Make sense?
This then leads me to discuss Naomi situation from the Book of Ruth. Naomi had two sons both of which died (Ruth 1:5). She was then left with two daughters-in-law. One left her and the other remained. Her name was Ruth. This was a good thing. For it means that Naomi would not remain “ruthless” for the rest of her life! (Pun intended!)
But seriously, when Ruth chose to remain with her mother-in-law, Naomi, it was as if all of Naomi’s investment that she had lost in her sons had come back to bless her through Naomi, her one daughter-in-law who chose to remain with her.
Sometimes we do not get the kind of investment return we hoped for in our children. Just look at Adam and Eve. What kind of investment return did they receive from Cain? Perhaps, this is the reason why it is beneficial to have more than one child. If one or more goes south, there is still hope for the next one.
But let’s switch gears for a moment and think of parenting from God’s perspective. Has the Lord gotten a good investment return on you? Are you paying back the principal that the Lord has sacrificed for you?
We parents do take a risk when we have children, don’t we? Sometimes the risk is worth it and sometimes we do not see the kind of results we had hoped for. But every parent still must take the risk and make the investment into their children no matter how costly it can be.
As a parent, I am responsible to raise my kids in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). This is my duty and calling. My children have their own free wills. What they do and how they live is all their responsibility. If I make a sacrificial investment into their lives, I have done what every parent is called to do. I may be blessed to see some of my investment return to me in the form of godliness, service unto the Lord, godly grandchildren, and God-honoring marriages. Sure, I do not expect to see nearly the financial principal that I had put into raising them. But if all I do see is that they are walking with the Lord, I have considered myself blessed as a parent. For my children to live a good and law abiding life is not enough. They must go beyond that and live for the Lord.
Here is a scary thought: Perhaps if we do not witness a good return on your investment with our children, could it be that we have not been the kind of examples in our walk with God by which they could mimic?
