But who is able for these things? Not the child, immature of will, feeble in moral power, unused to the weapons of the spiritual warfare. He depends upon his parents; it rests with them to initiate the thoughts he shall think, the desires he shall cherish, the feelings he shall allow. {Vol 1, pgs. 108-109}
"These things" are referred to as the thought life of a child's mind and what road it takes him down. Who is able to train the child's mind so that it does not have two "trains of thought" riding on the same track simultaneously?
...and to put the child on the right track for the fulfillment of the possibilities inherent in him, is the vocation of the parent. {Vol. 1, pg. 109}
In other words, it is my duty as my children's parent to bring out the good qualities which are in their hearts and define them as good for my child, and help my children recognize the bad elements as sin and not pleasing to God. There are several ways to do this.
- Be proactive--
Talk consistently about the fruit of the spirit and other excellent character traits that are pleasing to God, as well as sin and what's not pleasing to God. We read from the book of Proverbs almost daily. We also read stories based on good virtue. Stories by Beatrix Potter, Aesop's Fables, The Book of Virtues, A Children's Book of Virtues, etc. Praying for my children is also key in changing the hearts and minds of my children. The Holy Spirit is the One who does the changing. I simply plant the seeds (and lots of them) - Use teachable moments--
One of the [many] things I am not great about is using the opportunities of child discipline as training or teachable moments for applying what we've previously learned. Unfortunately, allowing these moments to pass by as merely discipline doesn't allow for real life implementation of good quality traits during hard times. I know this is an area I need to work on. It would give my children real life experiences on how to handle conflict in a positive way. - By Example--
Another sure way to train my children's hearts and minds on the right track is by my very own example. How do I respond to the stresses of everyday life? Not as well as I would like and that is why I struggle so with trying to train them. These last two are probably the most important ground work for training. As the old saying goes, "things are better caught then taught". My children are going to mirror much of me since they are with me most of their time. (Talk about pressure and a weight on my shoulders!)












