Godparents: The Importance Of This Figure For Your Child
There are people who shape our lives and those of our children. Grandparents, uncles or cousins have a natural place in your little one’s life. But there are people we simply choose to integrate into our family. In this post we will talk about godparents and the importance of this figure in your child’s life.
As parents we always want to be there for our children, we want them to never lack anything. We care about their emotional well-being, we are attentive to what and who surrounds them. Our greatest desire is for them to interact with good people wherever they go, and therein lies the importance of strengthening family ties.
There are people who, although they are not from our family circle, practically become one. And that is why we give them a role as special as it is full of responsibility towards our children; they are figures that should be as relevant as an aunt or grandfather: a godfather.
It is about those people that we traditionally choose to baptize a child. The godparents are usually two, a couple, who should not necessarily be united by an emotional bond with each other, but who should be able to assist our children as much as any other member of the family.
What is the role of a sponsor in the life of a child?
From the religious point of view, the godparents have the role of guaranteeing that their godson develops his life under the precepts of Christianity ; it is a commitment they made at the time of baptism. Your role in the life of a child is to guide him along the path of faith. This is how our ancestors and the Church taught us.
The truth is that being the godfather of a child must go further. In most cases they are chosen to be almost second parents. A support for your little one, for the adolescent and the adult that he will become. Being named a sponsor is a compliment but it is also an immense responsibility.
Parents normally choose the godparents of their children out of friendship, reciprocity or even some social commitment. And in some cases these are valid reasons, but when the time comes we must think if the chosen ones really fulfill what we really want for our children.
Sponsors should be people we trust and are ready to accept the responsibility of being a part of your child’s life throughout his or her life. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to look for that ideal sponsor within the same family nucleus or among friends that we know will last over time.
Characteristics of ideal godparents
When I asked my parents why they had chosen the people who are my godparents and who are still looking out for me today in my adulthood, they told me that they saw a good man and woman in them. This being the case, these are some of the characteristics that ideal sponsors must meet:
- Without a doubt, they must like children. It is true that your child will not be small all his life, but empathy, recognition and family connection begin to develop from childhood.
- Make sure he is a faithful person. If it is a person with whom you have counted so much through the good times with the bad, you will know that your child will also have the same luck.
- For the moment of baptism, the Church requires that godparents meet some conditions. If you are going to take this step, check what those requirements are and make sure that future sponsors meet them.
- Common goals and visions. Although it is not something mandatory or decisive, it is important that your child’s godparents share with you the values or interests that you will instill in your child.
An important decision
If the choice of godparents becomes difficult, think that they must be those people in whom you would trust, without hesitation, the care and integrity of your little one if you were to be missing in his life. Giving your little one the opportunity to have good sponsors will help him to value those around him even more. He will know that you have chosen two trustworthy people on whom, in your absence or not, he can lean on.
