Children Are a Heritage: What Scripture Really Means and How It Shapes the Way We Raise Them

“Children are a heritage from the Lord” is one of those verses that we hear often, yet rarely sit with deeply. The Hebrew word for “heritage” in Psalm 127 is nachalah, a term that speaks of an entrusted portion, something precious handed down for stewardship. In other words, children do not belong to us. They are entrusted to us. They come from God, return to God, and reveal God along the way.

This means parenting is not only the shaping of a child. It is the shaping of a parent. When God entrusts a child to you, He is also inviting you to experience His fatherhood in a profoundly personal way. The patience you learn is His patience toward you. The compassion you offer is His compassion mirrored in you. The wisdom you seek is the wisdom that draws you closer to Him. Parenting is discipleship in motion, a classroom where God fathers you as you learn to parent your child.

Valuing Children as God Values Them

To say children are a heritage is to say they carry immeasurable worth. Jesus models this clearly when He brings children to the center of the community, not the margins. In the ancient world children were often overlooked, yet Jesus calls them forward and blesses them. He does not celebrate their productivity or usefulness. He celebrates their presence.

Modern Christian psychology affirms that a child’s sense of security grows when their worth is rooted in being, not performing. Children flourish when they know they are loved consistently, not conditionally. Homes where children feel valued for who they are tend to produce adults who do not need to strive endlessly for approval or hide their weaknesses out of fear.

To value children in this biblical sense is to treat them as souls entrusted to us, not projects to perfect. It is to slow down enough to see them, hear them and create space for curiosity, emotion and expression. It is to be present in a way that reflects God’s steady presence with us.

Being Fathered by God Through Parenting

Parenting is often the place where we discover our own need for healing. The frustrations we encounter, the fears that surface, the exhaustion that pushes us to our limits all reveal the places where we still need God to father us. Scripture shows that God does not call leaders or parents from perfection. He calls them from dependence.

When we respond to our children with gentleness instead of irritation, we are practicing the gentleness God shows us. When we confess our mistakes, we demonstrate the humility God grows in us. When we forgive our children freely, we embody the grace we ourselves receive daily. Parenting becomes a living parable of what it means to be God’s child.

This is why the heritage God gives is not only the child. The heritage is also the transformation God works in the parent.

Cherishing Children Without Making Them the Center

A significant tension exists here. Scripture celebrates children as gifts, yet it never teaches that a family must revolve around them. Parenting researchers have observed that in many modern cultures, children are placed at the center of every decision and dynamic, which unintentionally fosters entitlement. The child becomes the sun and every adult must orbit around their preferences.

Traditional communities, including many of our ancestors and the mothers described in studies of older hunter gatherer tribes, did not parent this way. Children were cherished deeply, but they were not treated as the emotional center of the home. They were woven into family life instead of dictating the entire flow of it. They learned early that they were loved securely, yet they were not the axis of the household.

This balance produces grounded children. They grow up understanding that they matter, but they are not the only ones who matter. They learn that community is shared space, not personal territory. They develop resilience, empathy and realistic expectations of the world.

Cherishing your child does not mean centering your life around your child. Cherishing means honouring them as gifts given by God while shepherding them to see the world as larger than themselves.

Creating a Home Where Children Know Their Worth

Children must know they are valued, but the value they feel must come from the right place. A child who is praised only for achievement will learn to equate love with performance. A child who is overprotected will learn to fear anything outside their bubble. A child who is never corrected will interpret freedom as permission and eventually lose respect for boundaries.

A home shaped by God’s fatherhood holds warmth and structure together. There is affection, play, shared meals and conversations that make space for feelings. There are also expectations, rhythms, chores and rules that shape character. Children thrive when security and responsibility coexist.

To cultivate this environment, consider the following practices. Make eye contact when they speak so they feel heard. Offer affection without their needing to earn it. Give responsibilities appropriate to their age so they learn contribution. Correct with clarity instead of shame. Apologise when you fall short so they see repentance modelled. Pray with them in everyday moments so faith becomes relational rather than ritual.

These practices embody the way God parents us. They help children understand that they are valued because they bear God’s image, not because they perform well, behave perfectly, or meet adult expectations.

A Heritage That Shapes Generations

The truth that children are a heritage invites us to think long term. Children are not interruptions. They are invitations. They are opportunities for us to participate in the shaping of future generations while being reshaped ourselves by God’s steady fathering.

To treasure a child is to recognise the divine trust placed in our hands. To raise a child wisely is to reflect the character of the God who raises us still. And to keep Christ at the center of our homes is to give our children what they truly need, not a life built around their desires, but a life rooted in God’s presence, God’s wisdom and God’s love.

Juliet Grant is a founder of Odigia Global, a Personal Development Organisation committed to helping you flourish in all your relationships through guidance that works. As a Christian for over 45 years, and a wife, mother and spiritual leader for almost half of her life, she is passionate about equipping, empowering and engaging you with the tools to see transformation in every area of your life. Learn more about Juliet and Odigia here.