I looked up one day and suddenly realized my two young children are out of control. I mean, they always have been a little unruly and I just chalked it up to "boys will be boys". Well, now I believe that it should be chalked up to permissive parenting. This is the week. The turning point. I have reread a couple of books. One is
Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson and the other is
What the Bible Says About... Child Training by J. Richard Fugate. I need prayers this week as I deal with trying to undo years of bad training. When it gets to this point it feels like all I am doing is disciplining. I feel mean. I must remember the heart is deceptive and I can only rely on God's word, which is clear on child discipline.
I wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother. Proverbs 10:1
The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. Proverbs 29:15
My prayer today is for God to help me have the endurance I need to correct these behavior problems in my children. I know if I don't teach them to obey their parents now, they will have a harder time obeying the Lord when they are older.
Cradle Rocker,
ReplyDeleteI'll pray for you this upcoming week (I'm sorry I didn't see your post last week). Honestly, though, child training is something we have to keep at constantly. Even my now 14 year old we are constantly reminding her about the parts of chores she misses. About poor attitudes and yelling at her siblings. About forgetting to finish schoolwork she has been assigned. She *should* be getting to an age where she is more responsible, but many days, sadly, she is not. Yet I look around and realize that she is still way ahead of many youth.
Just prayerfully be consistent with teaching and training your children and do not give up. Take your children daily to the Lord, spend time in the Word and in prayer daily, and try to patiently wait on the Lord. The Lord is faithful.
Children actually want and need those boundaries, even when they don't consciously realize it. As long as they know they are loved they will respond to the discipline, though it may take time. Also each child is different and may require a different tactic. When it comes to discipline our two older ones are as different as night and day and I had to use two different approaches with them. God bless you and your children as you work with them.
ReplyDelete