The Purposes of Parenting

There are many purposes of Parenting. According to Michael H. Popkin, the purposes of parenting are to: Protect children and to prepare them to strive and thrive in the world in which they will live. I would however add one more, and that would be to prepare them for eternal life. Every parent’s reason can be different. Some want to manipulate and control, others want children to simply discover for themselves. Here are my reasons for parenting. I want to rear my children in love and righteousness and I want to teach them to be strong in the Gospel of Christ.  In the scriptures we read, ^“ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”(Proverbs 22; 6). If we teach our children by example and through consistent family scriptures and prayer we can ensure that our children will understand the Gospel of Christ. I also want my children to be humble, hardworking, family oriented, and faithful. In order to accomplish this my future husband and I must have a marriage that supports our parenting.  Our marriage must be Gospel centered and we must have equal partnership.  We must each give 100% of ourselves and expect gives and takes.  Our marriage needs to be full love and righteousness and we must cleave unto one another. Good communication and a willingness to sacrifice for the good of our family are essential. We must be patient and forgiving with one another and our children.  We must have a positive attitude and the endurance to keep going.