“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Romans 2:4
Many of you who have read our books know that Clay and I are very relational based in our approach to children. I think that because so many parents want to do it right, they become susceptible to whatever parenting book they get their hands on and seek to find a formula for disciplining children. (Heartfelt Discipline, by Clay, will hopefully be back in print soon.)
Many books and materials on the market and in the Christian realm in the past few years have focussed so much on formulas and law and this is what parents long for--"just give me the rules and tell me how to do it right and how to pop out a perfect child and that is what I want."
Then, often these very materials add human wisdom and opinion to the formulas that sound very inviting, but are just from human beings. These Christianese statements are like the hundreds of rules that the Pharisees added to the law or torah and they put people under fear--that if they don't do everything right, it might be their fault if children do not turn out well and if they go astray. Parents, then, diligently correct every little immaturity and misbehavior of their children and become the authoritarian parent because someone said that if they didn't correct every little behavior, that they were teaching their children to get away with sin and that this would certainly lead to rebellion. And so they become policemen--watching for the "sin" and bad behavior and treat their children sternly. And instead of enjoying their children, they feel stressed, angry that their children insist on whining and doing things to irritate them all the time.
This is neither Biblical or productive. I am so very glad Jesus does not treat me this way or I would be disheartened. I still sin, act in an immature way, but He gently leads me, continues to teach me wisdom as I seek His word, gives me understanding through the Holy Spirit and little by little, my sanctification process leads me to become more like Him--Holy as it describes the process in Hebrews, "He disciplines us that we may share in His Holiness." He does this through training, in our circumstances, over a life-time--but never, never judges us arbitrarily or in harsh measures with us in our immaturity if our heart is turned toward Him.
I think it is to the honor of a godly woman to cultivate civility, justice, wisdom, grace, patience and unconditional love, life-giving words in all of her relationships--including those with her children.
Why is it that we diligently teach our children the golden rule, and then we neglect to use it as a basis for raising our children? I would not like to be treated harshly and have a voice constantly raised and be corrected all the time. It would dishearten me. I would seek to get far away from that kind of critical spirit and corrective voice. I am a person who needs grace, encouragement, help, training to become righteousness.
I am so thankful that the whole of scripture tells us to live by faith. This means we can pray that God will lead us in His wisdom and that we can discern personality (extraverts are louder) but this does not mean they are more sinful. Boys have more testosterone and usually mature socially a little more slowly--that does not make them evil. And sometimes we want our boys to behave like girls and we rob them of their masculinity--want them to be quiet all the time--because it is convenient for us. But I want my boys to be warriors, so I seek to understand the differences between them and my girls. There are many other such factors, but a wise woman will pray and consider and ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit to know what to do to lead, guide, discipline their children.
If a child is autistic or adhd or has some other mysterious issue, we know that by treating them with graciousness, patience, love and gentleness, we receive more growth and self-control. But I have found that the same principles work with all children, all people.
Often parents have overstimulated their children and they just need to have a more peaceful, at home environment and be at home more--because the nerves of very young children cannot be developed in the company of lots of activity and other children. Sometimes children misbehave because of low blood sugar and need to be fed--or they are exhausted and need to be put to sleep.
But, overall, I see that a heart attitude is what will set the stage for gracious parenting. I will write more about this next week, but love an article that I think you will enjoy. I have copied part of this article here and it is by Virginia Knowles, who has an magazine called the Hope Chest emagazine.
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Tenderness is a special character quality for mothers, but it comes from God. He leads us with gentleness so that we can lead our children with gentleness.
Isaiah 40:11 says, "He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 also talks about the gentleness of motherhood when is says, "As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."
And so our children become dear to us, and we are delighted to share our own lives with them -- but only as we are filled with God's tender compassion for us. As we live in the lavish love of God, we can learn to listen and respond to our children, rather than react at them. We don't need to be tyrannical dictators anymore. We don't need to feel like we must dominate our children, to use our own self-effort to make them holy, as if we expect a bunch of outward rules to change their inward hearts. Josh McDowell once said, "Rules without relationships reap rebellion." We've all seen the tragic results of teens and young adults who have walked away from their family and their faith because life was all about legalistic rules, without any warmth or grace.
GRACE! Our own grace toward them will lovingly point them to Jesus, the source of God's grace. On the other hand, our bitterness will only drive them away from God. We need to let go of the bitterness and anger of daily irritation or unmet expectations of how mature your children should be by now. Hebrews 12:15 says "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled." Many people think that our children will only be defiled by the TV, by bad friends, or by the Internet, and yet one of the worst ways they can be defiled is by bitterness in the family! This will alienate them from you and your values faster than anything. Anger just doesn't work. As James 1:19-20 exhorts us: "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." Proverbs 15:1 reminds us that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
The issue of child discipline can be rather tricky at times. Yes, we must deal firmly and directly with issues, rather than being in denial. However, we must do this with right motives and with self-control. We don't need to shame or guilt-trip our kids into doing what is right, but teach them a better way. 1 Corinthians 4:14 sets the standard for parenting when Paul says, “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my bel oved children.”
So instead of coming against our kids to inflict vengeance on them when they disappoint us, we come alongside to restore them with grace and to gently teach them the right way to live. So we can say, "I care so much about you that I want to see you succeed in life. This kind of behavior is going to bring you down, so I want to do whatever I can to help you choose better in the future. Now let's talk about it…"