Dedicating your child to the Lord

[Maharg]

In 1 Samuel 1 verse 11 we hear Hannah's prayer:

"O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."

Hannah agrees to dedicate any male child she is given to God's service and sure enough, when God blesses her request, she gives her son Samuel over to the care of Eli the priest when he is weaned.

I am studying Samuel at the moment and my study guide asks what dedicating a child to the Lord would mean in today's society. What would 'dedicating' your child to the Lord look like in this day and culture?

I am actually stumped on this. What would it look like? Hannah obviously made a massive sacrifice. I don't believe God is asking us all to give our children into the care of priests, however, any children we do have should belong to Him if we belong to Him. So how do we give our children to Him in today's society? What sacrifices do we need to make?

I'd be grateful for any thoughts and reflections on this. It's a verse that keeps coming up to me, along with verses 12-13 of this chapter (where Eli thinks Hannah is drunk because she is praying silently), and we are trying to get pregnant with our second child at the moment, so it feels really important to understand what this is about.

 

[jgonz]

I have always taken this Scripture to mean that we as mothers in todays society need to be Super diligent to not only dedicate our children to the Lord, but to watch over them on a daily basis. Pray over them starting during pregnancy. Watch what they eat, drink, watch on tv, who their friends are, etc. Not be an overbearing smothering blanket over them, but be extremely careful to pray and watch. If something doesn't feel right in your spirit, then don't allow them to do that (or watch that), for example. Make sure that the children get Bible study from birth on. Don't assume that a church will do this for you, but to make sure that you are on top of their spiritual training. Love them no matter what, and every decision you make, make it through love.

I've been convicted by this Scripture myself, and it's even led us to homeschool our kids (we've been homeschooling for about 18 yrs or so now). It also led us to teach our children about courting (not dating) and follow that principle (2 of my oldest are married now, after courting. It works very well.) There are some Christians/Believers around me who don't understand some of DH & I's decisions concerning our children and some who think we are too strict, but WE are the ones who will stand before God and explain why we did what we did, not someone else.

Pray and ask the Lord for His guidance in every decision for your children~ born and unborn. He will show you.

 

[Maharg]

I have always taken this Scripture to mean that we as mothers in todays society need to be Super diligent to not only dedicate our children to the Lord, but to watch over them on a daily basis. Pray over them starting during pregnancy. Watch what they eat, drink, watch on tv, who their friends are, etc. Not be an overbearing smothering blanket over them, but be extremely careful to pray and watch. If something doesn't feel right in your spirit, then don't allow them to do that (or watch that), for example. Make sure that the children get Bible study from birth on. Don't assume that a church will do this for you, but to make sure that you are on top of their spiritual training. Love them no matter what, and every decision you make, make it through love.

I've been convicted by this Scripture myself, and it's even led us to homeschool our kids (we've been homeschooling for about 18 yrs or so now). It also led us to teach our children about courting (not dating) and follow that principle (2 of my oldest are married now, after courting. It works very well.) There are some Christians/Believers around me who don't understand some of DH & I's decisions concerning our children and some who think we are too strict, but WE are the ones who will stand before God and explain why we did what we did, not someone else.

Pray and ask the Lord for His guidance in every decision for your children~ born and unborn. He will show you.

Thank you. That's real food for thought. I'm not really sure what courting is in comparison to dating but I imagine it's to do with having a relationship with someone rather than just going out on dates? I know that I want my daughter to only get involved in romantic relationships with other Christians but I haven't really thought too far ahead yet as she's only just coming up to 2. Prayer is important especially for my daughter because my husband and his parents are not Christians, and while my husband restricts her TV viewing and books etc. in the same way that I do, his parents don't and my father in law is very much into druidry and paganism, so I'm having to be firm with him about how I want my daughter brought up which is a real challenge to me.

Thank you again for the advice.