Pastor Brent on Parenting - October 25

The ladies of morning Carelink had the great pleasure of hearing Pastor Brent Warkentin share last Tuesday. He shared with us some thoughts on parenting, and as Tiffany has posted, it has already changed some of my reactions as a parent. Here, in a nut shell, is what Pastor Brent had to say.

1. Most importantly as a parent, work hard to mold your children’s conscience.

Romans 2:15

Think about it 95% of the laws we have in this country would be unnecessary if everyone had a good conscience. Pastor Brent shared 4 different kids of consciences, guess which one we should work to instill in our children:

Seared – (1 Timothy 4:2) Don’t feel guilty when you should

Weak – (Romans 8) Do feel guilty when you shouldn’t

Guilty – (Hebrews 10:22) Carry unconfessed sin

Good/Clear – (Acts 23:1)

Telling someone to “follow your conscience” only works if they have a good one, 25% of the time!!

Done at the simplest level this means teaching your kids right and wrong. Affirming good choices and disciplining bad choices.

2. Teach children to respect authority.

Hebrews 13

Simply put, if a child respect’s human authority they are much more likely to respect and submit to the authority of God. Model this respect of authority to your children. This will look different to each family. A few examples to think about:

-interrupting a conversation

-Using Mr. and Ms. or Yes Sir, Yes Mam

-talking about the reason for a spanking

-consider parent behavior at kids sporting events

3. Manure or the Axe?? What is your style of discipline?

Luke 13:6-9

So many moms carry guilt (Weak conscience) over anger toward their kids’ actions. In other words moms feel bad when they lose their patience! As Tiffany talked about in her post, Pastor Brent shared a scale of Judgment and Grace. In every family parents fall at different points on this scale. Basically, stop and think about the reasons behind your discipline. Remember there is a difference between “childish” and “rebellion.” There are times for the axe of swift discipline and times to spread the manure and give a second (3^rd, 4^th…) chance. Please read through Tiffany’s post below to understand this one a LOT better.