In recent months, several moms of boys have told me that they don’t want to have a girl because it is difficult to raise a girl in this day and age. They explain that they don’t want their girls to go through what they went through during their teenage years. The pressure to be attractive, sexy, and well-liked was too overwhelming and detrimental to their emotional health. The fear they expressed is largely reinforced by the promiscuous culture we live in.

While I understand these moms’ fears, as a mom of girls myself, I do not share the same fear of the potential challenges of raising daughters.  I do not dispute their assessment of today’s culture and how difficult it is to ensure your girl’s safety and well-being. But as a Christian, I believe that whether I raise boys or girls (by the way, we have two of each), I should raise them in “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:3) and entrust my children to God’s sovereign care. We should really trust God and not be paralyzed by fear. The alternative is to miss out on what is good by instead trusting our own fear and anxiety. Let God rule over us and not fear.

Trusting in God is, however, not merely a passive “quietist” activity characterized by mere hopeful observation on our part (like an observer watching a car crash hoping no one gets hurt).  Parents have an immense responsibility before that same God to train their children and impart wisdom to them. We are to be faithful to God’s Word and nurture our children to the best of our abilities. We are to model for them what a godly man or woman look like. We should also hold on to the truth in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I sincerely believe that if we follow these two principles, trusting God and in faithfully raising our children, we will not be governed by fear. Yes, challenges and trials will come our way, but God will provide the grace to handle each trial as they come.