Some Wisdom for Parents

Becoming a parent is pretty easy. Learning to parent well takes a lot of time and effort. After all, kids don't arrive with instructions! Thankfully, God's Word and other experienced people offer us some helpful guidance. Here are a few wise and encouraging words for reflection, if you are a parent …

• "Then Jesus took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them." [Mark 10:16. NLT]

 

• "Rules without relationships lead to rebellion." [Josh McDowell]

 

 

• "People do what people see." [John Maxwell]

 

 

• "You can con a con, you can fool a fool, but you can't kid a kid." [Josh McDowell]

 

 

• "When it comes to parenting, love is spelt T-I-M-E."

 

 

• "Parents are prone to give their children everything except the one thing they need most. That is time: time for listening, time for understanding, time for helping and time for guiding. It sounds simple, but in reality, it is the most difficult and the most sacrificial task of parenthood." [Emma Hulburt]

• "The Six A's of Positive (not perfect!) Parenting: start with acceptance. Then add appreciation. Season both of these with liberal amounts of affection and availability. Then add accountability, topped off with loving authority." [Josh McDowell]

 

• "Discipline your children, and they will give you happiness and peace of mind." [Prov 29:17. NLT]

 

 

• ".. And now a word to you fathers (parents). Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord." [The Apostle Paul – Eph.6:4. NLT]

 

 

• "My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God's sight." [James 1:19-20. NLT]

 

 

• "Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil." [Eph 4:26-27. NLT]

 

 

• "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [Deut 6:4-9. NLT]

 

 

• “The greatest determent to sin is not rules but vision.” [Pastor Wendell Smith]

 

 

• "Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it." [Prov 22:6. NLT]

 

 

• “We are responsible to people but we are not responsible for people.” [John Maxwell] It’s the same for us as parents. We are responsible “to” raise our children and teach them God’s ways but as they grow and come of age they are responsible “for” their own choices and we have to release them to that responsibility. This doesn’t mean we don’t care, or pray or seek to influence, but we have to let them go. This also means that we should not take inappropriate guilt upon ourselves as parents if our older children make unwise choices. There are a lot of parents who feel that they are failures because their children are not serving God or have made unwise choices in their lives. If that’s true then God the Father is a failure because his first kids blew it badly! As parents we must empower our grown up children fully – then pray, trust God and believe that the seeds we have planted will bear good fruit in due time.

 

 

• "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse." [Mal 4:5-6. NLT]

 

 

• "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." [Psalm 127:3. NLT]