A child should be shown from an early age about making a choice to obey his father and mother always. When a child chooses to disobey ~ there must be consequences set forth ~ so that the discipline brings them back to the path of choosing obedience first.
To obey or not to obey? ~ this is the question of life – both for children and for us as adults in our walk with God. Using examples in our own life [to our children] of how God disciplines us and how we set forth to choose obedience ~ can help the child develop the same pattern.
All our efforts to discipline our children should result in teaching them to love God and ~ that God loves them!
To obey or not to obey? ~ this is the question of life – both for children and for us as adults in our walk with God. Using examples in our own life [to our children] of how God disciplines us and how we set forth to choose obedience ~ can help the child develop the same pattern.
All our efforts to discipline our children should result in teaching them to love God and ~ that God loves them!
God’s Word says:
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (New King James Version)
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [emphasis added]
Psalm 25:8-10 (New Living Translation)
8 The Lord is good and does what is right;
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (New King James Version)
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [emphasis added]
Psalm 25:8-10 (New Living Translation)
8 The Lord is good and does what is right;
He shows the proper path to those who go astray.
9 He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way.
10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep His covenant and obey His demands.
Do you see the pattern? In essence, God says to us here, “Go and do likewise!”
What pattern of discipline [or lack of] are you setting forth in your home?
Do you see the pattern? In essence, God says to us here, “Go and do likewise!”
What pattern of discipline [or lack of] are you setting forth in your home?
Your comments are intended to help others who may be struggling.
Choosing JOY,
7 comments:
Just yesterday we had a situation involving our son and his lying about a test grade. It was a tough one to confront, because one of the reasons he gave for lying was my "usual response" to poor test grades. Once we got past that (and lots of guilt on my part), we got to the heart issue... the greater issue and how lying never profits the walk of faith. How even though he thought no one was watching when he threw his test in the trash that God was watching, etc.
It seems I've had to have this discussion with all of my kids over the years; it may not seem big in the realm of "life teachings" but it's one that must be dealt with at a young age so that when kids grow up, they don't have a habit along these lines.
We're firm believers in kids taking responsibility for their actions... reality discipline. Choices are very important at this young age, and with those choices come consequences. Whether it's breaking something that doesn't belong to them or cheating or lying.
Every choice we make plants a seed, and that seed will bear some type of fruit. Not just with our children, but with us as well.
peace~elaine
Elaine:
Thank you for sharing your own personal example so that other parents can follow it in dealing with situations concerning lying. Lying is one of the biggest challenges for any parent to reign in.
The more children are allowed to lie, cheat, steal, etc., [allowed -meaning we do nothing about it] the more they do it because they think its no big deal.
You pointed back to God, and our walk of faith and showed that it IS a big deal...reminding him that it will not profit his life in any way to lie.
Thus comes the teaching of making the right choices. If left on their own [without guidance,rules, consequences or discipline] children will almost always make the wrong choice.
If there are no consequences for their actions - they have nothing to fear in making the wrong choice.
Your comment will be extremely helpful to those who stop to listen. Thank you for taking the time to discipline and to share about it with us!
May God pour His grand favor over your life. He's smiling on you today!
Choosing JOY, Stephanie
It worked. My son is in seminary and my daughter is very dedicated to the Lord and active in church. Both are grown.
Kurt:
Amen to that and the scripture you left on my own blog:
Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Lord - give us wisdom to go back to your Word for our discipline instruction! It does indeed work!
I'm too old to remember....ha. But the children grew up to be responsible humans - caring mates and beautiful parents - I can't contribute this to anything that I did or didn't do...I just count my blessings that we have a faithful God that is set on completing His good work in us - sometimes in spite of us. I praise God for His faithfulness and His graceful pardon - and blesses me anyways.
Patrina <")>><
Very good. I think consistency and firmness are two very important ingredients. We must be consistent with the principles we teach and behavior we expect. Secondly, we must be firm, not just with the kids, as when they disobey, but with ourselves, that we don't back off from consistency. This doens't mean there can't be grace at times, but we don't need to be so wishy-washy that we confuse the kids. Good post.
Patrina:
Thanks for sharing. I relate because there are probably more things I did wrong with disciplining my kids - than I did right - but in hindsight - I see it much clearer and therefore can offer advice and guidance.
Warren:
Great points you brought out here - that will help others who might be a little too wishy-washy in their ways of consistency. That is a key ingredient to discipline - being consistent in whatever effort you are making.
Post a Comment