“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children, those who love their children care enough to discipline them.”
What should be the goal when raising our children? It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we are just trying to raise “good kids” or “nice kids.” In reality, our goal should be to develop adults that are productive, responsible and self-controlled.
This idea of raising adults does not start when our children are teen-agers. It starts when they are young. It takes a long time and a lot of work to raise an adult who is going to be productive for the Kingdom of God and society. It changes our outlook on parenting when we start with this end goal in mind of raising adults instead of kids.
I realize that the word “discipline” brings with it many bad thoughts and images from where it has been done wrong. The word, however, is where we get the word “disciple” from. A disciple is a learner, a student, or a follower. To discipline means to train. As parents, we are the ones that are primarily responsible for raising and training our children. It is not the babysitter’s job, the school teacher’s job, or the government’s job.
Being a parent is the greatest calling and vocation on the planet. We have the power to shape and influence successive generations for good or for bad. Let’s embrace this calling train our children to be all that God has called them to be.
What are some ways that you are training your children to be the people that God has called them to be?
To be continued…
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