Take the time to weigh your sources!

Whose parenting advice are you following? The magazine’s? The other soccer mom’s? It might all sound good enough, but if you wish to know what fruit it’ll bear, look at what soil the tree is rooted in. All parenting advice proceeds from either one of two camps – the humanistic or the Biblical worldview.

Humanistic perspectives believe that children are good, innocent and noble. They’ll develop into wonderful individuals largely independent of our interventions …

The Biblical worldview is quite different: We and our children have nothing good within ourselves except what has been deposited there by God. It’s an uphill battle to cultivate the good in our children, and a downhill bliss to cling to the bad in their hearts. That’s what human nature means.

Therefore we need to intervene in our children’s lives and not all interventions are equally welcome. It takes effort, time and commitment, for which we are rarely thanked. However, it is our duty to understand this: Children are worse off without us, not better.

Children thrive when there are boundaries and discipline. Children receive love and care from strict yet compassionate parents, not neglectful parents.

Listen carefully when all sorts of “positive” approaches are offered to you. If children were only inclined to do good, if there weren’t things such as gravity, selfishness, wilfulness and rebellion in the world, I’d be able to answer your “positive” approach with an “amen”. However, the nature of mankind and life begs the question: How do I prepare a child for real life by interacting with her in a purely indulgent, enabling, peace-loving and positive manner? Mason Cooley said: “Psychology [or humanism (?)] keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.” Think about that for a moment and then ensure that your parenting comes from sources that declare: “Lord, we need your discipline and wisdom to raise our children.”