Successful Parenting

 See Your Children as Gifts from God
Understand and Accept Their God-given Destiny
Commit to Leading Children to Personal Knowledge of God
Communicate Spiritual Values
Exemplify Godly Character
Seek to Discipline Consistently
Spend Time

See Your Children as Gifts from God - Psalm 127:3-5

  •     Of great value
  •     Gifts for which we will be accountable - 2 Corinthians 5:10.
  •     Temporary gifts (only for a short time).

Understand and Accept Their God-given Destiny - Proverbs 22:6

  •     Each child has unique intrinsic abilities, propensities and talents     requiring specific and tailored parenting responses.
  •     No two are alike (Musicians, prophets, leaders, pastors or....?, all indicate very early in developmental stages).

Commit to Leading Children to Personal Knowledge of God - I Samuel 3:7; 3:21

  •     Pray for this type of revelation for your children and all in your sphere of influence.
  •     Use and create every opportunity that presents itself to turn conversations to Christ - Deuteronomy 6:5-9.

Communicate Spiritual Values - Proverbs 4:1-4; 6:20-23

  •     Commands not suggestions
  •     Honesty, Purity, Integrity, Diligence and the like will not just happen in a vacuum. They must be cultivated and nurtured by Godly parents and mentors.
  •     Find and capitalize on "Teachable Moments".

Exemplify Godly Character - Deuteronomy 6:5-7 - Note "you" and "your" statements.

  •     Teaching material should be an overflow from our diligent, faithful experience.

Seek to Discipline Consistently
  •     Discipline "early" - Proverbs 13:24 - When traits first manifest deal with them - I Samuel 3:13; with 2:22-25.
  •     Tailor Discipline to event and individual - Proverbs 23:13-14; 29:17.
  •     Meet the individual's need - Proverbs 19:18.
  •     Discern the difference between and define proper responses of:

                Discipline

            Training

            Punishment

  •     All appropriate discipline must be grounded in an intense concern for the development and future success of the child.

    The parent must convince himself that punishment...is not something that he does to the child; It is something he does for the child. His attitude toward a wayward youngster is this: "I love you too much to let you behave like that."              James Dobson

Spend Time

    There is no other alternative if a parent wishes to raise Godly children. Their influence is directly connected to the amount of quality time and interaction invested in relationship with their child. It must be a protected priority.

    "The prize is the inner spirit of my children and the stakes are high. Arrayed against me are those who wish to extract money, loyalty, and the strong creative energy my son or daughter may have to give. In the eternal dimension, the prize is the soul of my children. I am not prepared to compromise or negotiate. Until my children are old and wise enough to distinguish their enemies from their friends, I hold the responsibility to conduct both a formidable defense and an intense offense on their behalf."             Albert Seigle

Dr. John Maxwell suggests 10 questions every parent should be able to answer abut their children:

    1. What gives my child joy?

    2. Who is my child's #1 hero?

    3. What is my child's greatest fear?

    4. What activities energize my child?

    5. What activities wear my child out?

    6. If my child chose this year's vacation, where would we go?

    7. If my child picked one activity we could share, what would we do?

    8. What is my child's favorite song? Artist? Why?

    9. Other than school or sleeping what activities does my child engage in most often?

    10. What aspirations does my child hold? Future occupations? Causes?

If you cannot answer the majority of these, you probably are due some quality conversation time with your child. Schedule it and fill in the blanks, not as a blind exercise, but as an adventure in discovering a unique individual that you may not know! Ask, get them talking and LISTEN!!!