Raising Children in God's Will

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Section 7. Parents' Responsibility

1. You Should Be A Model First

When can you adore my family as the Abel type family and at the same time when can your children become one with mine? This is the problem. To do so, you should give them the education of heaven. Teaching them, you should be an example first. You should be a dutiful son first. When you yourselves become devoted sons and daughters following the rules of heaven, the relationship of traditional filial piety of heaven will be established.

From that position you have to teach your sons and daughters the moral way to live for the Will and become loyal subjects of the Heavenly Kingdom. You have to become the parents who can grab hold of your children's hands letting them drink the tears you shed, teaching them that the country they are living in is not their real nation; rather, that they are a people without a nation, but that there is a nation which they will have to serve.

Just as you can hear the breath of a baby in your embrace, you have to come close to them, teaching them from the position where they can shed tears worrying about heaven together with you. You have to teach them to become filial sons and daughters, just as their father is filial, and to be loyal subjects just as their father has written the history of struggle, working for the nation even in the face of great persecution. I have, until now, made it the absolute purpose of my life to worry about how I can leave this tradition to you. (30-113)


Parents cannot force their children to be filial, teaching them to be dutiful. The thought of being filial should come from the heart. Therefore, it cannot come true over night. It should influence them for a long time. What does the word 'influence' mean? A father should show a good model of himself in his daily life to his son. You should be a specialist to practice such things. (29-99)


What are you going to tell your children? You should now teach and show your children, husbands and wives, how to take over the tradition in its official aspects, recollecting the past. So children themselves ... This is not something they can learn in school. In order to inherit the tradition they should show off and give the things they learned from school to their parents. Do you understand? [Yes] Then the flowers of love will bloom. A family of love will come true. (111-257)


Parents should be a good example following the Will. You should show children a life of faith such as praying, and serving in your house as seriously as other Christians. And you should make them realize how important the pledge ceremony is. During this time you should teach children as parents with the Will as well as perform the ceremony. Parents should practice something first, for the sake of educating the children. Parents should be devoted to God's Will. By it, you can make them never talk back whatever you say and respect you. Otherwise they won't obey their parents.

As children look at the parents centering on the Will, and the principle, they know their parents ignore what the headquarters directs and don't live as it says. But if they force the children to live following the fundamental truth, their children will laugh at them. Considering that kind of problem, you cannot avoid taking a new took at reality. (31-268)


We should love and harmonize with each other and have to be able to give and sacrifice first, making such love a rule to keep. As the subject of love is Abel, he gives it to the object first. That is the origin of love. (66-123)


What is the basis of living to be a good example? It is to be a man who is required to find God, to brighten our history, to improve this age and to take part in developing the future. I will assume the responsibility and carry it with me considering reality. It is necessary to keep the achievement you attain during a certain time as property you own in history. You should know this clearly. (21-232)

2. The Role of a Mother

What do babies like most after they are born? Of course they like eating. They like drinking mother's milk. But they aren't always fond of drinking milk. They like not only drinking it but also watching mother. In fact, they are drinking for the purpose of looking at mom. Therefore, a mother doesn't think it is a waste of time to breast feed her babies. A relation is made like that. A mother misses her baby because she gives to it infinitely. As she gives it her life and earnestness, she treats the baby with an absolute relation so it would obey her as much as she loves it. (27-55)


A great mother educates her children to persist in whatever difficult positions arise in order to be good people who affect the world. Because they know the principle of heaven, the goodness of mothers never fails. (13-238)


Even though a mother stays where she is all of her children come into her arms. It is possible within love. No matter what difficulties parents have, if they embrace their beloved children in their arms, they gain power. They should lose power in such hardships but they get stronger. As a result, they feel joy in that action. They are weary and exhausted but gain strength made from love. If something is hit by a force all of it is destroyed.

When you see your sons and daughters you should be mothers who can pray to God for them lest they should be unlucky and banished from the parents. "God, I know the grievous heart you felt when you lost Adam and Eve so, please never allow these children to be like them. As those children can't indemnify, if they have to be forgiven please, let me take the responsibility for them."

3. The Role of a Father

Husbands should tell the children that their mother is a person to be much more respected than any other great men's wives in history. And she is different from other mothers in loving the world and the country. You should also teach them that their mother is living in a small and poor house but that she is the best mother in the world. Every member of the family should give their whole mind to the mother. Children should consider their mother as the greatest woman and sing a song for the mother wishing her the blessing of God. The husband should also offer a fervent prayer for his wife. When those things are done, a new historical tradition will come into being. Do you understand? (37-69)


The husband who has a wife that loves her children should be thankful to her. (134-315)


Who has to take the responsibility to bring them up and shelter them? A father should do that. (29-95)

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home