We must take every opportunity we can to let our children know how proud we are of the right choices they make. Even in the midst of their wrong choices, we can praise the right desires we know we've planted inside them.

Called to Be a Mother

A Bible Study for Mothers

Positive Support

1) This sounds good. But HOW do I pull it off? I need some PRACTICAL advice.

2) What do we do when our children rebel?

"And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head" (1 Samuel 1:11)

"So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there" (1 Samuel 1:28).

"Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death" (Proverbs 19:18).

"Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him (Proverbs 22:15).

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother....
Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul" (Proverbs 29:15,17).

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).

"Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged" (Colossians 3:21).

"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Deuteronomy 5:16).

As Christian parents we must say with Hannah of all our children, "I will give him (or her) to the Lord for all the days of his (or her) life." Hannah made a special promise of a Nazarite vow ("and no razor will ever be used on his head") which is not applicable to our day. However the principle of dedication of our children is not only appropriate, but mandatory if we would bring our children up to honor the Lord.

We must tell our children from a young age that they are being raised for the Lord. We must remind them of this over and over. We must make sure they understand that we have embedded this goal in their life.

We must let them know as they mature that this responsibility to live for the Lord is being shifted to their shoulders. We must remind them that the teaching we have given them puts an extra burden of responsibility upon them before the Lord to live by God's principles.

We must let them know that this is what we expect. We must always be positive in our teaching. Our children have a choice. They will learn that soon enough. But we must always reinforce the right choices.

Even when they seem to be going in the wrong direction, we can know what we have sown in their hearts, and we can affirm them:

"I know you want to do the right thing, because you love the Lord. Let me pray with you that he will help you make the right choice."

"You did the wrong thing. But I know your desire now is to do what God wants. I know you are going to follow what God shows you to do about this."

"God is going to remind you of all the things we've talked about. I just know God is going to do great things in your life!"

We must take every opportunity we can to let our children know how proud we are of the right choices they make. Even in the midst of their wrong choices, we can praise the right desires we know we've planted inside them.

We should praise our children's obedience before they rebel. If our children do display a hint of rebellion, we must renew our praise for their obedience before the leaven of rebellion has a chance to rise.

Even if the rebellious attitude had to be squelched by our firmness, even if the child really did not want to obey, we can inspire our children to squelch the rebellion themselves next time:

"I was so proud of you tonight. You started to argue with me about going out with your friends. But when I told you 'No, this is how it will be,' you accepted that. I've seen a lot of kids be very disrespectful of their moms in situations like that. But you did what I told you, even though you really didn't want to. You've always respected what I've told you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate that."

Then we can reel in the catch by praising this child to another adult in the child's presence at the first opportunity:

"He (or she) is a good kid. He respects me, and he obeys me, and he really wants to do the right thing. I couldn't be more proud of him!"

Next time he starts to disobey, he will be so compelled to live up to the standard Mom has set that it will most likely take only a gentle "You're not obeying me" to turn the tide.

We must let our children know that we are always praying for them. We must teach them that to depart from God's principles is to walk on our prayers and to walk on God's love.

But we must also let them know that they can never do anything to depart from our love or God's love. We must teach them about God's love with our love. We must prove to our children over and over that no matter what they do we always love them.

When our children fall short of the principles we teach them, we must be there to support and help them back to the right way--never to criticize. We must respond to them as God responds to us.

We must love them enough to discipline when necessary. A mother must discipline her children from an early age.

Sometimes parents disagree on the discipline of their children. Sometimes the father's ideas of discipline differ from the mother's, and a mother may not be given the opportunity to discipline her children as she would like.

But a mother must always love her children enough to demand their respect. A mother must never, never allow her children to speak disrespectfully to her.

She must love them so purely that with only a glance she inspires their admiration of her integrity and sacrificial love. She must love them so firmly that with only a word she employs their desire for her approval and fellowship to produce a reverential respect for her authority. She must demand nothing less than utmost respect from her children.

The Apostle Paul was a master at incorporating the above principles into his ministry. To him, the churches he had established and nurtured were his children. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-11 (quoted in the next session), Paul shows us his father heart. He compares his ministry to that of parent to child.

In almost all of his epistles (letters) to the churches, he began with affirmation and commendation.

The Philippian church was his most well-behaved "child," the child after his own heart. He told the Philippian church he was praying for them, and expecting great things from them. He did not overlook the dissention between two women who were apparently disputing. However, he did not labor the point. He let them know that he loved them, and that he expected unity.

Corinth was a wicked city, and the church at Corinth tried Paul's patience at times. This was the child who had never grown up. This child was prone to be rebellious, to follow the world. He had to be firm with this child.

The first letter to the Corinthians displays something of Paul's firmness--still mingled with love and positive hope, but abounding with discipline. He is reminding them that they have been "trained up" in the way they should go, and that he will not accept their departing from that way now.

The second letter reveals more of Paul's heart. Even for Paul, the master at balancing discipline with affirmation, it was hard to know how to handle this child. He did not want to be overpowering in his discipline, yet he could not approve the evil in them.

He "disciplined" them in his first letter, but after they had both had an opportunity to think and pray about the situation, he took the initiative to write to them again. He didn't apologize for his discipline, but he made sure they understood the spirit with which he gave it. And he did indicate that some of the things he had led them to do in his previous letter needed to be amended at this time. He admonished them in love to live up to the positive things he was expecting of them now.

When we are angry or disappointed with our children, or when our children are angry because of our discipline, we can't really "finish" the job. We haven't finished until we go back to that child after things have settled.

We must not apologize for our discipline if it was merited, but we must apologize if we have displayed any misbehavior toward our child. We must make sure our child understands the heart and spirit of our discipline, and the reason for it. We must then let our child know that we already feel proud of the way we expect him to behave in the future.

Our children are looking for someone to believe in them. As mothers, we must be that someone!