Ten-year-old Caitlin has had a bad day. Some friends were unkind to her at church. She has discovered that she is no longer considered to be “in” with some of the popular girls. She is sad and despondent around the house. Her dad doesn’t know why she is “down,” but reasons that she needs to snap out of it. So he says something like, “Caitlin, it is not good for you to be so down. You attitude is discouraging everyone else in the house. God wants you to be happy and pleasant to others. So, I want you to exercise some self-control and stop being so sad right now. Okay? It is time for you to snap out of this.” […]
Daily Archives: May 7, 2013
2 posts
There were a number of questions from the post “Teaching your children to behave is not the Gospel.” The topic is challenging because one of your main objectives is to teach children to obey. Let me clarify. Biblical obedience has as its core a love for God. Behavior change has as its core a desire to make things better. This is a profound difference. Deuteronomy 6:7 is often taken out of context as a reason for focusing on behavior change. Regarding God’s commands, the first part of the verse says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children…” Allowing this sentence fragment to direct the focus of parenting can lead to an emphasis on behavioral change. However, if we place […]