[#life Series] Parenting Part 2ናሙና

Coach for character

What are two important building blocks of character? Humility and holiness. We want to coach our kids to realize humility is the basis of life, the place we surrender to the Lord and respect other people. And we want them, also, to know that holiness is the way we walk in obedience to God. 

To develop humility in our kids, we need to show them that they are not the center of the home. If everything goes by their schedule, or by their obedience, wishes, wants, needs, or desires, we have incorrectly made them the center of the home. This produces insecurity in our kids. They know that they are not worthy of that honor and that they can’t keep up with it. When the center of the home is Jesus Christ, and next is the marriage, our kids live in a home of great security. 

Humility brings respect for authority. Our kids need to respect the authority of God and of their parents, teachers, coaches, the police, and everybody else. When we make kids think they are the center of the world, and everything else revolves around them, we break down the structure God has put together; we set them up for failure.

The second building block of character we want to build in our kids is holiness. Do you know how much trouble kids can get into now? Today, students might not get into college because of some goofiness they displayed five years earlier that was filmed and posted on the internet. Let’s teach our kids to shun evil and walk in holiness. God is not trying to kill our joy; He wants to bless us. He is not trying to keep us from good; He wants to thrust us toward good.

Let’s reward our kids when they do the right thing, not bribe them or pay them up-front for behaving. Let’s celebrate them, high-five them, and give them some accolades or rewards when we can. Our kids’ job is not only to make good grades, do their chores, and run some errands, but to make wise choices in the way of humility and holiness. If we can reward them for that, then let’s go for it. Let’s keep them going on the right path. To do so, we want the Lord to be number one in their hearts.