This is a really good post from Jordan Thomas' blog on parenting.
"As parents we are desperately needy (usually more often than we're aware) for God to enable us to point our children toward Christ by being accurate reflections of Him.
Not even Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, set the example perfectly. We're all flawed, and we all need help. As we seek the Lord's face, He will provide!
In his tiny-but-excellent (19 pg!) pamphlet, William P. Smith quickly gets to the heart-problem for many parents:
When your agenda, your will, your desires, and your reputation become more important than God's, that's a sign you are trying to be your child's god. That's right. Whether you thought about it or not, you want your child to treat you like God.
Instead of pointing to the only true God, our parenting-by-force approach projects to our children that we want to be their god. A poor trade indeed! Duck now warning: Here comes another painfully-true ouch quote from Smith:
When you lose control with your children, you are communicating to them that their priority is to wrap themselves around you. They must give you what you want or pay the consequences. You are, in reality, demanding their worship. Instead of teaching them to live according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, you are teaching them to live according to every word that proceeds out of your mouth.
A prayer: Lord help us to point our children to the matchless glory and worth of King Jesus through our parenting!
(I highly recommend this resource, and all of the similarly-small-but-excellent life-application and counseling booklets from the ministry of CCEF.)"
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