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An Arrow OR A Tax Credit?
July Theme, 2024: Authority in the Home (Children)
If you read what the government has to say about your relationship to your child, it will say that in the year 2024 it will cost $25,714 to raise him. It will tell you that, in the year of 2024, the tax credit you can receive is be $2,000 per child under the age of 17.
You know what the government won’t be able to tell you? The total value that child has in your life (more than just monetary). How much more you would sacrifice for him or her than just money. The unique joy, satisfaction, and relief that they will bring you — and I’m not talking about relief from a tax break.
Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that the government is bright enough to see that raising children is expensive. However, I am increasingly afraid that the overall population is beginning to look at children as (in the words of a friend and brother in Christ) “expenditures instead of assets.”
The Holy Spirit, the source of Solomon’s wisdom in this psalm, says this about children…
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;… Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed its he man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:1a, 3-5)
What Is He Saying?
He’s not saying that one should be ashamed if they have no children (though that may be the case depending on your reasoning or attitude); he’s not saying that this asserts a man’s dominance since he is capable of producing more offspring than others; he’s not saying that children are here to validate you; he’s not saying children are given for your mental health (I mean, good luck there); he’s certainly not saying that children are a mere means for a man to make more money. He’s not saying what the world says about children.
Children are “gifts from God!” Like every other blessing and divine gift it is not meant to be squandered or taken for granted. They will bring great joy when accepted with thankfulness and utilized scripturally.
Is My Child An Arrow To Me Or Something Else?
Can children make your life better, more profitable, more affirming? Of course they can! But only if you raise them to be. A hunter can only be effective with his arrow if he has trained with it. A warrior archer will only have victory if he has honed his skill with the arrow. And, if properly trained, the more arrows in his quiver the better!
Parents, are we “training” with our arrows? Are we training our children by “bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4)?
Are we making it easier or harder for our “arrows” to fly true due to our ability or lack thereof? Are we living in such a way as to make it easier for our children to “obey their parents in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1)?
Are children as vital as an “arrow" to the hunter when they have been taught nothing but that their job is to enjoy the “finer things of this life” that their parents can afford to give them?
Are they as critical as an “arrow” to the warrior if they have been taught nothing of their intrinsic value as created in the image of God but entirely of chores to make their parents happy?
Can they bring honor, instead of shame, when they have been taught nothing of responsibility, duty, and honor in God?
My son is not profitable to me because he gets me a tax credit every year. My son is profitable to me because he is a gift from God that forces me to better my aim as a soldier of Christ. He is profitable to me because he reveals to me what God expects from me as His child (and, therefore, one of His arrows). He will be more profitable if I do my job in training with Him in the Lord!
