I went to listen to Josh McDowell speak yesterday and it was all about parenting so perhaps the message was intended for me to share, since I do not have any children of my own. :)
He said there are 3 things you can be certain of:
1) There is no guarantee to parenting
2) It is never too late to start where you are
3 ) You may just have a difficult child
He has 7 principles of parenting:
1) Affirmation - Affirm your childs emotions (Romans 12:15) When they are happy be happy when they weep weep with them!
2) Acceptance - provide unconditional acceptance (Romans 15:7) Accept as God accepts
3) Appreciation - expressing this to a child tells them they are important ( Matt 3:17)
4) Availability - Make yourself available to your children it tells them they are important to you (Matt 19:13-14)
5 ) Affection - Hug your child
6) Approach your child's world - (if they play barbies play with them)
7) Accountability - Owe it to your children to provide reasonable boundaries and rules
Josh said it is not biblical to discipline what a child is doing wrong instead praise and appreciate all they are doing right. Make your family your number one ministry, do not sacrifice your family for the ministry of church - family should be your first priority. Do your children feel they come after the church if so you are not in God's will. First the head of the household should be a great husband and a great father.
That about sums it up! He had to rush thru the last three so he did not provide the scripture that went with it.
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