One tidbit of Christian parenting advice that is crucial to your child's future successes involves teaching him or her responsbility.
As I ponder this issue, a memory comes to mind:
One of my little nephews (five years old) was given the responsibility of being the ring bearer at a friend’s wedding. He took this responsibility very seriously. No doubt about it.
When it came time for the rehearsal, his big moment arrived. He had to walk the aisle with the ring.
At that moment, he raised his hands high in a claw-like stance, began growling ferociously, and started to make his way to the front.
No one knew what to make of the spectacle until someone in the crowd realized he was acting like a bear. My nephew thought he was the “ring bear.” He thought he was being responsible. You have to give him an “A” for effort.
Learning how to be responsible is a key lesson all our children must learn. But this is not a lesson that is taught all at once. It is taught progressively over many years, with increased responsibility given as each year passes.
Learning to Count the Cost
A Principle to Remember: Scripture says there are always consequences — good or bad — to our choices and actions.
Biblical Basis: “The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness” (Proverbs 11:5).
Our kids must learn that there are always consequences to their choices and actions. If we constantly shield our kids from the consequences of their wrong choices, they will never learn not to do wrong.
For this reason, it is important that our kids be allowed to suffer some of the consequences of their foolish actions (assuming the consequences do not involve physical harm). This is one of the ways they learn responsibility.
~ Shortcut to Understanding ~
Feel free to share this story with your child:
One school day morning, 10-year-old Johnny was hanging out in his bed. His mother had told him twice already to get up and get dressed for school, but chose to stay in bed just a little longer. He knew his mom wouldn’t let him be late for school. It was a scenario they’d played out umpteen times...
Johnny would sleep late. Mom would beg, wheedle, cajole, and finally yell for Johnny to get up and get ready. She would get his clothes out of the dresser and bring them to him. She would pack his backpack for him. They’d both skip breakfast. Mom would put the pedal to the metal and weave in and out of traffic. They’d screech into school just in the nick of time.
NOT TODAY! Mom had wised up. She’d decided to put the responsibility back where it belonged — on Johnny. And she’d told him the night before that in the morning she would give him two (being generous) wake-up calls, and that the rest was his responsibility. He would get his own clothes, pack his own backpack, and mom would no longer be skipping breakfast or speeding to school.
Well, when Johnny finally got to school, he had to go to the principal’s office to get a tardy slip. And when he arrived in his classroom, he found out he had already missed part of a lesson. He was embarrassed and he was behind.
Did Johnny learn a good lesson? Yes he did. He learned that there are consequences when you make bad decisions. From now on, Johnny decided he would be responsible and get up the first time he was told.
~ Shortcut to Understanding ~
Feel free to share this story with your child:
Mommy told Sarah to be sure to put the lid on her Play-Doh when she finished playing with it because if she didn’t, the Play-Doh would dry up and become hard as a rock.
After playing with the Play-Doh for a while, Sarah decided she wanted to play with something else. So she left without putting the lid back on her Play-Doh. And just like her mommy said, the Play-Doh dried up and became hard as a rock. When Sarah wanted to play with her Play-Doh the next day, was she sad? Yes she was. She wished she had done what her mom said.
From now on, Sarah decided she would be responsible and take care of her Play-Doh.
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Parents must never give up. Make it a high priority to teach your children responsibility.
— Dr. Ron Rhodes
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