Some GREAT Parenting Advice

I just came across this thought-provoking and instructive article (via Challies) written by a father of five: 39 Lessons, 20 Tips, and 10 "Don'ts" for Parenting

Here are some of the things he says that I would echo with a hearty "Amen!":

• Consistent, loving, faithful discipline brings peace to the home. Inconsistency brings chaos.
• On some days, it's just fine to accomplish nothing more than keeping your kids fed and safe.
• Arm your children for the world, not (necessarily) shield them from it. Consider getting your high-school-aged children out of the Christian bubble.
• Make sure your kids keep short accounts with each other. Create a culture of care and forgiveness in your home (1 Cor. 13:5: "Love…keeps no record of wrongs").
• God uses children as a mirror to your own heart to expose your sin and hypocrisy.
• God elects. God saves. Parents cannot do this heart-changing work. At best we can pray and point to the One who can cause our children to be born again.
• Talk to both good and not-so-good parents; you'll learn lessons from both.
• Talking to really old parents may not prove to be fruitful as their memories fade and they'll remember raising kids as either a nightmare or a glorious experience. Talking to parents 5-10 years ahead of where you are seems most fruitful (Prov. 15:22: "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed").
• Don Whitney encourages "brevity, regularity and flexibility" in family worship.

And here are some things he says that challenge me:

• Preach the gospel of grace, not self-discipline.
• Parents should become "smaller" as their children become bigger. In other words, a parent should become more transparent in confessing one's sin and in sharing past struggles as children mature. Your children should hear more about your fight for faith as they grow older. Don't be a plastic Christian!
• Do not feel outside pressure to baptize your children. Look for and test for a credible profession of faith in your child (Prov 22:15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child…").
• One's conscience is not the same as the Law of the Lord. If conscience is defined as "That inner-voice that acts as a guide as to the rightness or wrongness of a behavior," then your conscience is only as good as your knowledge of God's Word. An informed conscience can be a trustworthy thing if it is drawing from God's Word, God's Law. An uninformed conscience is incredibly dangerous. Inform your child's conscience by pouring in God's Word.

Go check it out... it's an excellent article: Lessons for Parenting.