Skip to main content

Families' Fridays

Tim Challies is a great Canadian Christian blogger.  In this article, he addresses mistakes parents easily make with discipline.

5 Bad Substitutes for Discipline

There is nothing easy about parenting, and nothing easy about the responsibility of training our children in obedience through discipline. Because discipline is unpopular and unpleasant, parents often find themselves looking for substitutes. In her book Parenting Against the Tide, Ann Benton lists five poor substitutes for disciplining our children—five poor substitutes that fail to address the heart.

EXCUSE THEM


This is the voice of therapy culture. Sometimes we make excuses for our child’s misbehavior. We say, “he’s tired, she’s had a hard day, he’s disappointed, she’s traumatised, he’s got low self-esteem …” Now all of these things may be true. But that is not the point. The point is this: Are we going to allow our children to take responsibility for their own behavior/misbehavior or not? Or is it always going to be the fault of someone else or of the circumstances? I am not saying we cannot be understanding or sympathetic. But if we are going to praise our children when they do well, surely it is logical to chastise them when they do badly. They make choices, which are moral choices, all day long. If we commend them for the good we cannot merely excuse them for the bad. That is very poor training because it teaches them to blame-shift.

Read the other four HERE.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something a Little Deeper for Christmas

Why the Jewish Messiah is the Most Important Individual in History by   Eric Davis What Christmas commemorates is big for many reasons. With the incarnation comes the Savior. For those who repent, there is justification, adoption, redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, sanctification, and, one day, glorification. But if we back up a bit, with the incarnation, there is the arrival of the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. It’s difficult for a 21 st   century audience to appreciate the century-long yearning which the Hebrews had for the Messiah’s arrival. But why? What is the significance of the Jewish Messiah? Read the Article HERE .
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lord's Prayer

"This prayer begins where all true prayer must commence, with the spirit of adoption, "Our Father." There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, "I will arise, and go unto my Father." This childlike spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father "in heaven" and ascends to devout adoration, "Hallowed by thy name." The child lisping, "Abba, Father," grows into the cherub crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." ----Charles Spurgeon
Post a Comment
Read more

My Sheep

I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. (Eze 34:14-15 ESV)   This has been our western view from our cottage this week in Scotland.  The peak is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the U.K.
Post a Comment
Read more