Children are Rewards from God?!?

OK, I am not normally one to pick on particular people in public.  But something today really bothered me, and I can't help but bring it up.

 

The local Contemporary Christian radio station gets tuned in for my morning commute every day.  I love the music, I love the personalities, and I usually love the little "info" bites that get stuck in between the songs.  But this morning one of the "info" bites bit me a little.

 

The segment was "Real FamilyLife with Dennis Rainey."  Mr. Rainey does a pretty good job with bringing life into focus.  But today's topic is titled, "The Privilege of Parenting."  Great topic!  I couldn't agree more that those of us who are parents have been gifted by God.  But the phrase that Mr. Rainey kept using was that "children are a reward from God."

 

At least in my case, if children are a reward, I would not have been given kids.  That's not to say that I am a terrible person, but I certainly haven't been an outstanding model for life.  And if children are a reward, the bar must be pretty low for earning that reward, at least based upon the news broadcasts every night.

 

Instead of saying children are a "reward from God," I would say that children are a gift from God.  It's kind of like grace - you can never do enough to earn it as a reward, but God gives it freely anyway.

 

The relationships you have with your children may be a reward - a positive relationship does take work.

 

But the children themselves are definitely a gift!