Can you believe that God commanded older women to teach young women to love their children? You would think this would come naturally for most women. However, just because a woman has deep feelings of love for her children doesn't mean she sacrificially loves her children as the Lord commands she love them for love has MUCH more to do with actions than feelings. If you sacrificially love your children, you will want to be home full-time with them; you will love their daddy and you will do everything you can to discipline them and train them in the ways of the Lord.
Many mothers seem to be too "sensitive" to discipline their children. They can't bear to say "no" to them or hurt them in any way. They even shelter them from their father's discipline when the Word specifically calls fathers to discipline their children. The problem with this is they are doing their children no favors. There will be many others in their children's life that will say "no" to them and the Lord's discipline will be much worse than your discipline or your husband's if they grow up to be in rebellion of the Lord's ways.
The popular "gentle" parenting is hurting children today. Yes, you are called to be gentle but firm by teaching your children right from wrong and obeying you immediately when you ask them to do something. When you see any signs of rebellion in them, nip it in the bud with a swat on the bottom or some other way that works but whatever you do, make sure you discipline your children so they will grow up to be disciplined adults. I recommend To Train Up a Child if you are struggling in this area. Yes, this book gets many bad reviews but they never teach parents to abuse their children in any way, as they are being accused. They raised five children to be joyful, disciplined and hard-working adults. The proof is in the results and they have produced beautiful fruit.
Also, train your children in the ways of the Lord. This is how Elisabeth Elliott's parents raised their children in the Lord. "Before I learned to read, I was read to, at least twice a day from the Bible and usually from another book or two as well. At family prayers, my father sometimes read a children's paraphrase of the Bible but when he opened his own Bible it was the KJV. We heard it seven days a week and consequently our minds were filled with thousands of phrases {effortlessly memorized} of flawless English and shaped by those majestic cadences. This was a priceless gift from our parents, which of course we had no appreciation for at the time. Growing up, I began to be aware of something far more important; my parents really believed that Book and honestly tried to live their whole lives in the light that it shed."
I took my children to AWANA weekly where they would memorize many Bible verses. I would also read the Bible to them every morning while they ate their breakfast. We were at church almost every Sunday. We tried to speak about the Lord and His ways often to them. This is one area that you must not neglect since their eternal souls are the very most important part of raising your children. If you have lost their soul to the world due to your negligence in this area, it will be the most devastating trial a godly parent will ever have to endure. Please teach your children the Word often.
Besides teaching them the Word and disciplining them, you must live out what you teach. Never let your children say you were a hypocrite because you didn't practice what you preached for our actions speak much louder than our words. Stop complaining and be thankful instead. They need to see the joy of the Lord in you which will attract them to the Lord. When they spill the milk or do something on accident, show them grace as Christ does to us. In all things, be an example of Jesus to your children. When you blow it, tell them and ask for their forgiveness. Be a role model to them of how someone who loves Jesus lives their life. Please take the time to discipline your children and raise them to know the Lord. They will one day grow up and be thankful that you did.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Hebrews 12:11
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Hebrews 12:11
