12 Huge Mistakes Parents Can AvoidSample

We Are Inconsistent

Really, Tim? Did you have to bring this up already? We’d like to imagine our kids only pick up on our best behavior. We proudly forget our negatives and assume our kids are basking in our positives. That’s what our pride does, isn’t it? It keeps us from the reality of our failure to consistently model the life we hope our kids will one day live. Thanks, Tim, for shouldering your way past our pride to help us parent our children into successful adults.

Today, let’s commit together to stop hushing the whispers of the Holy Spirit and instead crush the power of pride in our lives. We need it, and our kids need it. They’re confused. They don’t know which version of us to model their life after. Is it the one who says this or the one who does that?

Do we want our child to wait until marriage for sex? Do our lives, our entertainment, our close friends, and our words communicate that value to them? Do we want our kids to have clean mouths? What do our own mouths have to say about it? Is it really “almost bedtime” at 6:58 PM—why do we always say that?

Tim says, “Inconsistencies breed insecurities in our kids.” So, how do we breed security? Consistency. But how can we live consistently? Let’s lay down our pride, hear Tim out, and then read what are arguably Jesus’ most well documented thoughts about human behavior: The Sermon on the Mount.

Plan: Create a plan for consistency in your parenting. Make a list of core values you’ll lay out and play out for your kids.