Raising Mighty Arrows In a Broken World System
“Discipline today is direction tomorrow. Straighten the tree while it is young, so it will grow upright” - Anonymous
Children are arrows—meant to be sharpened and shot in the right direction. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The Yoruba also remind us: “Ati kekere la ti n peka iroko; to ba dagba tan, owo o ni ka” (You bend an iroko tree from childhood, when it is grown, you can’t).
Sadly, the way many parents raise children today shows something is missing. I once saw a little girl, about 5 years old during a church sermon, slap her mother because she was denied a phone. Instead of discipline, the mother apologized to the girl. These are not isolated cases—parents complain, yet they’ve lost control.
Some parents hand over their responsibilities to others, yet get offended when others correct their children. We keep blaming Gen Zs but other generations are still coming—and if the foundation is weak, the cracks will only widen. Influence is everywhere: before, it was only physical. Now, with the internet, there are borderless influences shaping our children daily.
My grandmother once complained of seeing inappropriate adverts pop up while she was browsing. These things are not hidden again and children are being sucked into them. Before we know it, they indulge in habits that are hard to break from. Parents may do all they know, yet outside influence can derail children. This is why we can’t parent by strength alone—we must ask God for help.
Sadly, some parents either refuse to discipline at all or discipline with brutality. Both extremes are damaging. Discipline must be done in love, with consistency. Stop excusing bad behavior with “he’s still a child.” That’s how spoiled adults are formed. As the Yoruba say, “Eja gbigbe ko se ka” (a dried fish cannot be bent). Don’t wait until your child becomes hardened before you attempt correction.
These are end times and the world is creeping subtly into our homes and churches. As parents, we must go beyond the physical and fight spiritually for our children. Don’t just raise kids for the world; raise them as kingdom children. Be intentional about raising your children if not, the world will raise them for you. Let the Bible be their manual for living.
I pray the labor of parents will not be in vain. May the destinies of our children not be cut short. May they be preserved from strange influences. May we raise arrows that will hit the mark.
Note: Although, this might apply to Christians. If you are not a Christian, you might still benefit from this post.
Till the next post, keep learning.
