I'm afraid I'm feeling a bit like Mari over at, My corner of the world, rusty at most & slightly old. My children have long been out of the house & have set up their own homes with almost adult children of their own.
I must admit I wasn't one of the best parents & fumbled my way as my children grew & learned along with them.
I think what I see today is a bit scary tho, there is less of the "traditional" family unit, by that I mean one MOM & one DAD, we now have two moms or two dads or missing one or the other. Children are taught in school that a variety of family forms are acceptable alternatives. This is not the way God designed the family unit to be. This is one of the most serious breakdowns we see as satan tries to make his lies become truths.
Another area of breakdown is in the discipline category, I have been witness to many scenes in the grocery store where a young child is screaming at the parent, & causing a commotion because they didn't get something they wanted, and the parent gives in to what the child wants even if it is something that is totally unnecessary. The Bible tells us that "He who spares the rod hates his son"(Proverbs 13:24.) Real hatred is expressed in the failure to discipline, & if this framework is not established at a young age it only leads to greater grief for the parent & child later in life. Love & obedience go hand in hand. "Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord" (Colossians 3:20) Children are not to be selective in their obedience, choosing to obey when it suits them.
Respect, is another area of concern that seems to have fallen by the way side some where. Not just respect for parents but for all adults who have authority. This needs to be instructed to our children at a young age as well, & the Bible verse that comes to mind on this is, " The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures" (Proverbs 30:17) We see children rolling their eyes at their parents instruction or just plain ignoring something a parent has said. Of course all of these areas and so much more must be done in Love, we are warned not to exasperate our children and to "bring them up in the training & instruction of the Lord" The commands of God are first to be on the hearts of the parents so that they can impress on the children the context of everyday family life.
We have been given a wonderful book the Bible, in which we can turn to for instruction in all areas of life, including raising our children who by the way are "Gifts from God" only on a temporary basis so it is our responsibility as parents to do the best we can in the time we have been given. Children who are taught to obey God by honoring their parents will grow up to be responsible citizens, who seek advice, wisdom & guidance from the Lord & pass that on to their own families.
Thanks for the challenge of this from, Rocks in my dryer.
3 comments:
Great comments Nancy. You have a lot of wisdom!
You preach it sister!! yes discipline and LOVE go hand in hand so true. Discipline needs to be done with love not when your angry.great job Nancy.
I completely agree with everything you said. We went to a Dan Seaborn conference once, and he read us some things from someone who had studied the falls of all the great civilizations in history. Before all of them, the people become more and more relaxed with all kinds of behaviors, homosexuality became rampant and all kinds of things. It was very interesting because all the things are things that we're seeing now in the United States.
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