Category: Discipline

Yes, Daddy!

I love watching our adult children do a better job of training their children than we did! I have watched and learned as they train our grandchildren. For instance, I really wish we had trained our children to always respond when we instructed or directed them. I have watched little minds struggling with their own wills and not wanting to obey their daddy or mama. Then, when they respond with a […]

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The Law as a Door to the Gospel: The Fifth Commandment

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). Honor your parents. The first four of the Ten Commandments address our duty to God. The last six outline our duty to man. The first relationship considered is the parent-child relationship, which in principle also applies to any other authority relationships. This is the first […]

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Justice and Mercy

My daughters and I are Les Miserables fans. I think we first started with an audio version of the story from Focus on the Family. Then we found recordings of the musical, the 10th anniversary performance, the 25th anniversary performance, and enjoyed a live Broadway Across America performance from our perch in the very, very back row of the top balcony. It’s a gritty story, full of sinners and the ugly consequences of […]

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The Law as a Door to the Gospel

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Are you teaching your children the Ten Commandments? Those ten concise commandments encompass every sin we or our children could ever think of committing. The same commandments also make it quite clear that we will never please […]

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Sticking Power

We live in a manufactured home — the kind that comes with built-in wallpaper — ugly wallpaper. We’ve lived in this house for 17 years now, and it was the day before Thanksgiving (What a day to decide to paint the kitchen! What was I thinking?) four years  ago before I finally got brave enough to paint over that ugly wallpaper. I had visions of the paint sliding right off the […]

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The Dog Who Returns to His Vomit. Yuck.

Our elderly cat recently gave me another opportunity to contemplate life. This time I was encamped on the sofa, snuggled under a blanket, enjoying a phone call from our oldest daughter. I heard it — the dreaded retching sound that always precedes the deposit of a yucky pile of half-digested food in a most-likely-to-be-stepped-in part of the house. The retching concluded with an unpleasant liquidy sound, and the cat soon […]

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Stop and pray.

God is the one who changes hearts. So why don’t we ask Him to do it more? Am I the only one who has talked and lectured and disciplined while totally forgetting to go before the throne of the One who can actually turn a disobedient, rebellious heart into a humble, submissive one? Maybe you’re smarter than I am. But if you’re not, try this today: When a child needs […]

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Fuel for Obedience

“Being wanted is the fuel for obedience.” That sentence — in the sermon Bethany and I were listening to as we drove down the freeway – provided an answer to a question I have often puzzled over. What was it my parents did that made me want to obey them? I especially wanted to please my father. Disobeying him just didn’t seem like an option. I loved him too much […]

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When We’re Feeling Ineffective

Many different factors can prevent us from effectively training our children. We simply may not know what to do when our children sin. First-generation Christians who have not grown up in a God-fearing home, may lack the experience, wisdom, or biblical knowledge that would help them instruct and discipline their children. Parents who have grown up in the Word may still not have the wisdom to apply that Word to […]

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Some Thoughts on Carelessness with “Stuff”

“Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (Proverbs 18:9, ESV). A child who is lazy will end up misplacing items, wasting resources, using up unnecessary time (his and others’), and losing the trust of others. A parent who is lazy in his responsibilities to train his children will also have a destructive influence on their lives! Teach your children the truth of Proverbs 18:9 when their […]

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