Wednesday, January 10, 2007
5 Ingredients to Making Good Kids
Just like it takes good ingredients to make good food, it also takes good ingredients to make good children.
There are so many negative things battling for our children's lives these days. Television, friends and negative things of this world are just a few things that are constantly influencing our children. I know not all television and not all friends are bad, but as parents we should be the number 1 influences in our children's lives.
I don't have all the answers to raising children, but here are 5 ingredients you can add to your children's lives to impact them in a positive way:
1. Model your values and integrity. Don't be the parent that says one thing and then does another. Be the parent that's brave enough to get up and turn off a television show that doesn't need to be on. Don't lie for your kids to get them out of trouble. Let your children see you consistently living what you preach. Be consistent.
I don't have all the answers to raising children, but here are 5 ingredients you can add to your children's lives to impact them in a positive way:
1. Model your values and integrity. Don't be the parent that says one thing and then does another. Be the parent that's brave enough to get up and turn off a television show that doesn't need to be on. Don't lie for your kids to get them out of trouble. Let your children see you consistently living what you preach. Be consistent.
2. Pray with and for your kids. Nothing is more intimate than prayer with your kids. When you pray with your children, they get to see your real heart and you get to see theirs. Once while praying with one of my children, they prayed about something that was really bothering them. I would have never known it was a struggle for them had we not been praying together. When you pray, make sure you ask them if there is anything you can be praying about in their life.
3. Love your children. There are different ways to spell love. T-I-M-E spells love. You can't have quality time with out quantity time. Love is spelled L-I-S-T-E-N. Your kids know when you're listening and when you're not. Love is spelled T-O-U-C-H. It's important to touch your children. Nothing is better than one of my children's arms around my neck, whether they are 17 or 5 years old. Love is spelled R-U-L-E-S. Believe it or not, it really is.
4. Serve with and to your children. Let your children see you serve others and have them serve others with you. It's so important for our children to learn to serve others without expecting something in return.
5. Commit to the Bible. Teach them the truth of God's word. Teach them about God's loves and about having a relationship with Him. Teach them that God will never leave them and will always forgive them. Today our children don't need a small dose of God but a large dose.
3. Love your children. There are different ways to spell love. T-I-M-E spells love. You can't have quality time with out quantity time. Love is spelled L-I-S-T-E-N. Your kids know when you're listening and when you're not. Love is spelled T-O-U-C-H. It's important to touch your children. Nothing is better than one of my children's arms around my neck, whether they are 17 or 5 years old. Love is spelled R-U-L-E-S. Believe it or not, it really is.
4. Serve with and to your children. Let your children see you serve others and have them serve others with you. It's so important for our children to learn to serve others without expecting something in return.
5. Commit to the Bible. Teach them the truth of God's word. Teach them about God's loves and about having a relationship with Him. Teach them that God will never leave them and will always forgive them. Today our children don't need a small dose of God but a large dose.
Do you remember Noah? There are many who think Noah was a lousy preacher. For over 100 years, while he built the ark, he preached to the lost. And when he was done preaching and the invitation was given, no one but his family got on the ark with him. When I see that story, I see Noah as a great success, and I pray I will be as successful a preacher as him. For when that great day comes and God calls us all home, if the only people I've brought with me to heaven is my family ... then I've been tremendously successful.
So those are 5 ingredients that I think are essential to making good kids. What other ingredients can you think of that should be added to this list? Post a comment and let me know.
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10 Comments:
Just a quick note about #3 "Love Your Children" - My 17 year-old son just ran through and read the post over my shoulder. He said I had left out a "How do you spell Love."
He said, "It's spelled M-O-N-E-Y"
Yea, Right!
Awesome blog post Trey! Kristin
Thanks Kristin ... it needed a picture of Jax! The supermodel. :)
Excellent comments!!!!
I believe all are extremely important, but how much better is #1 in the eyes of kids. I heard Paul Faulkner call children little movie cameras. I would only add they are eternal little movie makers. Not only is their soul eternal, but many of the memories of what they see us do.
Great thoughts
Great post.
I am a dad of 3 boys.
5,3, and 10 months.
I am will try these ingredients and let you know what I think.
Sounds great to me.
And with someone who does have more experience than I have why not try it.
Have you thought righting a reciept book? :-)
Keep up the great blogging!
As a mother of five I just wanted to say thank you for this posting. Everyone should have to read this, write it a couple hundred times and read it some more :)
By the way, my soon to be 17 year old son would completely agree with yours. Just remember what the sweet, godly woman told me a while back:
Grandchildren are your reward for letting your teenagers live."
Paula... loved the quote. Shared it with my wife and she loved it too.
I'll remind myself of it next time I'm wanting to choke one of my boys ;)
ha
Trey, newbie to your blog. I loved the sound advice here. If I could only do more to portray the advise that was given here.
I made mention of this post over at my blog as one of the best of the week.
Again, great post.
Trey,
I agree with your ingredients and we are trying to apply all of them but when we get to the prayer and bible reading my daughter of 9 just whines and cries and pouts, it is a major ordeal everyday when we have our bible study time and she knows we do it every night, I haven't really seen a change in her yet, I just got married in April 2006 and started taking her to church. I will continue to use your ingredients because I think they are great !!
Michelles ... Don't give up. Keep reading and studying. Sometime change is hard to see up close. And I love that y'all are going to church. Hang in there...
Trey
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