Aside from modeling character in the lives of parents, the best advice we can give in starting early character training is to develop a parenting paradigm that is consistent with what Scripture says about children and parenting. We hesitate to say that “our way” is “the Bible’s way” when it comes to parenting; however, the foundational beliefs that a person espouses concerning parenting and children dictate how he or she parents, regardless of whether that paradigm is “the Bible’s way” or “man’s way.”
Consider the text from a slide from our “Character Training From the Heart” parenting seminar (below) —and see if you believe it is true. If you do, read on in the upcoming days to see why we feel that these eight “parenting paradigms” are crucial in training our children.
Our “parenting paradigm” will dictate every decision we make in our parenting—from how and whether we discipline our children; to whether or not we teach them God’s Word; to what kinds of peers we allow them to be with; to the numbers and types of activities they are involved in; to what our lives look like in our homes on a daily basis.
Over the next two weeks, we will examine what we feel are eight “essential” parenting paradigms that dictate how we parent our children—and how much character training takes place in our homes.
Join us tomorrow for Paradigm #1: Purpose for having children.
