This article was born out of an experience I had with my daughter. A couple of days ago, she was chatting to me while I was getting ready for work. She was supposed to be getting ready for school, but had become distracted. While I enjoy talking with my daughter, she didn’t have the time, so I asked her, “Is your backpack ready, yet?” While I already knew the answer, the question helped to refocus her attention on the task she needed to be performing.
From there, my mind wandered (must run in the family) and I starting thinking about God asking Cain where Abel was, already knowing of Abel’s murder.
The Bible teaches that God is our father. It contains His words to His children, and some of those words relate directly to parenting, even if only through His example of the way He treats us. While I have compiled a list of five, I’m sure there are many more parenting tips that can be cleaned from the Bible.
1. Ask questions
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God asked them questions, even though He knew the answers. He wanted to help them take responsibility for their actions, because learning to take responsibility is very important in the growth of a child.
In any relationship, especially a parent-child relationship, communication is very important. Asking questions can help keep the lines of communication open, especially when you already know the answers to those questions.
2. Make rules
Throughout the entire history of God’s dealings with man, He has provided rules for us to follow. Among many other rules, God gave to the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses to help them become better people.
God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, not because He didn’t want them to have knowledge, but because He knew the consequences of that action would take them out of His presence.
As parents, we should set rules for our children. Just as God’s rules do for us, our rules can help keep our children safe and make them better people.
3. Allow mistakes
God has given all of us the freedom to make our own choices, even when He knows those choices will have consequences that will be painful for us. God could have hidden the tree of knowledge of good and evil where Adam and Eve couldn’t find it, but He allowed them to make a mistake and He didn’t protect them from the consequences of that mistake.
Many parents try to protect their children from everything, afraid that they might get injured or have their feelings hurt.
Guess what? Kids will get injured and have their feelings hurt anyway. That’s just part of life. Kids need to learn to deal with hurt feelings or they won’t know how when they become adults.
Kids also need to learn to take responsilibity for their own actions. They can’t do this if they are never allowed to make mistakes.
4. Share responsibility
When Jesus lived on the earth, He called twelve men to be His apostles. With these men, He shared the responsility for teaching God’s children and running the church. He also called an additional seventy men, who He sent out in pairs to teach the gospel.
In order to help our children learn, we can share rsponsibilities with them. As children grow up, they can take on more and more household responsibilities. Young children can help with dusting and vacuuming, while older children can even be responsible for cooking dinner a few times a week.
5. Be an example
Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Jesus set a perfect example of how we should live and treat each other.
If you want your children to learn to act a certain way, the best thing you can do is act that way yourself. Children pay more attention to our actions than to the things we tell them. If you tell them one thing, but do another, you shouldn’t be surprised when your children follow your example. “Actions speak louder than words.”