Christian Parenting Advice

Dear Friend: The Christian parenting advice given is based on how the bible tells us to live our lives and raise our children. Parenting advice is always a touchy subject; everybody has a different point of view on how a child should be raised. There is no one right way to raise children, many different parenting techniques work.

Parenting is a challenge full of obstacles, fear filled moments, as well as joyful experiences. Whether you are parenting a toddler, adolescent, teenager, or learning to be a stepparent you will experience tearful, memorable, and tender times.

Dear Friend: God uses our parenting experiences to grow us as individuals. As parents we often become people we did not know we were. We acquire qualities that at one time were foreign to us. And our outlook on life often changes once we have children.

As parents we will find ourselves dealing with situations that require parenting advice and are most unpleasant. The following examples are often challenges parents deal with, myself included.

• A mother and daughter may struggle with their relationship.

• Divorce may occur which may leave children to be parented from two homes or by one single parent.

• A situation may call for tough love ; This is never pleasant for the parent or the child.

• Observing the relationship your children have with one another can be difficult when the siblings continually do not get along.

Dear Friend: As our children are born we acquire our own personal parenting style. We are not born knowing how to be parents, although everyone wants to give us parenting advice. By observing our parents we are taught how to respond, reward, care for, and discipline a child. As adults and parents we decide if what our parents taught us are the parenting skills we want to adopt in raising our own children.

Our parents made mistakes just as we will. As you assess how your parents raised you consider their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Apply their positive parenting to your life; learn from and change what you consider the negative aspects of how they raised you.

Dear Friend: Try to forgive your parents for the mistakes they made while raising you. In return your children may forgive you for the mistakes you will make while raising them.

Most Important, forgive yourself for any mistakes you make while raising your children and move forward fresh! Remember if you ask the Lord he will always forgive you and help you through any struggles, mistakes, and hard times you may go through as a parent as well as in everyday life. Trust that through the Lord all will work out for the best!

• The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7 KJV

• Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Proverbs 30:5 KJV

• Let the Lord have a say in how your children are raised.

• Allow God to guide and direct you as a parent (He knows what he is doing; our way is not better than his).

• Study the bible to see what God has to say in regards to raising children.

Dear Friend: The most important relationship advice I can give in terms of parenting advice and your relationship with your children is to remember that they are all individual. You will not have the same relationship with any of your children; each relationship will be unique. God made us all different because we are all special; the relationships we have with our children are the same special .

From the moment our children are born we are building a relationship with them. Try not to feel discouraged if at times the relationship you have with your child seems to be a struggle. You and your child will go through stages. At times you will feel close to your child although at other times not as close. Try not to worry, instead, replace your worry with prayer.  

Dear Friend: In raising our children we need to be their parent first and their friend second. This can be difficult at times due to the fact we want to feel close to our children. By being their parent first when they are young you build a strong relationship with your child allowing you to be his or her friend when your child grows to be an adult.

Below is my parenting advice in regards to this situation and every other situation you may encounter as a person and a parent.

• Pray, pray, and pray some more, the lord will help you to be the very best parent you can be.

• Stay strong, try not to allow fear, weariness, or Satan to influence your parenting or your relationship with your children.

Dear Friend: As I dressed my three month old baby boy in his pajamas tonight he gave me the biggest, best, most precious smile. I was touched, I felt as if my heart would explode from joy, happiness, and most of all love for my baby boy. In the next instant I thought, What if I lost my baby? What if God chose to take him home tonight? How would I survive?

I know at one time or another all parent’s think on these same questions. We ponder what we would do should we lose one of our children to death. Enjoy your children even when you are tired, stressed, rushed, or busy because you can never get those moments back. Eventually moments turn into years and then decades and we begin to struggle to remember the funny things our child said and the precious moments we shared with them.

Dear Friend: Cherish every moment good or bad because life is short and we never know when the Lord will take us or our children home!