Reaping what we sow

For the first 55 years of my life I never did much in the way of Bible reading or studying, but for the last six months or so, I have begun to do just that. Basically I have been searching for answers to life's most puzzling questions. Now I admit, not everyone believes in the Bible, or even God and it is not my intention to convert anyone, it's just that, the more I read, the more I find what the Bible teaches us is true.

For example, in Galatians 6:7 we read

"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap"

As I visited my daughter in the hospital tonight, I was reminded of this verse. First, when you read the Bible, it can be subject to interpretation. I find that different denominations interpret verses different ways, although for the most part they are pretty close. That being said, I think the way to interpret the Bible is literally, taking what is written at it's word, where it says what it means and means what it say then apply the passages to actual day to day situations.

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This verse above literally means that God holds us accountable for our actions. Reaping what we sow means we will get back what we give. If we do good things, God will reward good things to us in return. My question tonight is does this also apply to our children? Not that my kids are bad, quite the opposite (mostly anyway). But we "sow" our kids, if they turn out bad or good, are we responsible for that? For that matter the same can be said of our parents, are they responsible for how we turned out?

Here is what I think. We are partly responsible for how are kids turn out. We can only pour the foundation, lay the cornerstone, and the rest is up to them. Again, if we refer to Matthew 6: 48 - 49, where Jesus talks about a man laying his foundation on a bed of rock as opposed to on a bed of mud, his house will be able to stand up to storms. This is what we need to do with our children, lay a foundation for them on stones and then hope they build on it, making strong houses. In our own cases, we build the walls, but our children need to build their own.

If we lay a good solid foundation and they then build their walls with paper, the house will not be able to withstand a storm. But we can't build the walls for them, this is what they must do on their own.