Am I Going to Ruin My Children?

"Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4b)

Training your children for their lives here and for heaven hereafter is the most important task you will ever take on, other than preserving your own soul before God. How you handle this task will affect your children for the rest of their lives, long after you are gone. What is more, you have one chance to do this job well. You can't reset the video to start over when you are older and wiser.

Homeschooling involves stepping out of the typical path of childrearing and taking the risk of being different. The number of homeschoolers is growing, but the vast majority of families in America still educate their children by sending them to public or private schools.

You are surrounded by skeptics and critics who are ready to ask questions and to pounce upon every perceived weakness of the homeschooling approach. Some of these skeptics are in your family; some are in your church. The failures of public schools somehow get a pass from the public--unless they generate a plea for increased funding. But let a homeschooling family miss a state requirement or do something bizarre, and the editorial writers, pundits, and politicians wag their heads and talk about the need for greater oversight of homeschooling.

You lie awake at night asking yourself questions such as, "What will people think?" "What if my child has special needs?" "Can I cover everything?" "Which approach should I take?" "Will my children be ready for college?" "Do I know what I am doing?" and the grand prize winner, "AM I GOING TO RUIN MY CHILDREN?"

Feeling overwhelmed? God has given us answers for these fears.

First, training your children is a God-given task (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Ephesians 6:4), and God will not give you a job without equipping you to do it. God is bigger than your fears and failings.

Second, God has given you guidance in His Word for the most important lessons you could ever put into your child's heart (Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible won't tell you much about how to teach American history or which trigonometry curriculum to use, but it will give you the reasons why you're doing what you're doing as well as the principles your children need to live by as they are learning the academics. Success will not come because you are adequate. Success will come because God is adequate and because He will work through even your inadequacies to prepare your child for life.

Third, you are the most qualified person to train your children (Psalm 127:3, 2 Peter 1:3). Of all the people in the world, God gave your children to you. You are the expert on your child's abilities and limitations. This is your teacher certification.

So be confident. Take a deep breath. Decide to enjoy the process. Thank God for your children and the opportunity you have to train a soul for eternity. And by all means, pray a lot.