Paying with Children

One of the ways that we don't realize that we have to pay now or pay more later is in raising our children. As a counselor I saw it time and time again that parents let their children get away with small acts of disobedience and disrespect when they were younger because they were little things. Then they came to counseling because their child was "out of control." The heartache and struggle that parents went through because they had no authority over thier child was hard to watch. Walking step by step as parents attempted to regain authority over a rebellious teenager was hard work for everyone. It is much harder to regain authority and enforce discipline that hasn't been kept in place than it is to maintain it. As hard as it feels sometimes to keep on my children and work to make them obey (and it is often WORK), I try to keep in mind (and tell them) that obedience is essential for their safety and well-being. One day they're going to need to mind me when I tell them not to run out in the street or not put themselves in a situation where they'll be tempted to sin, or any number of other possibilities. As laborious as it is sometimes to discipline my children and stop what I'm doing to enforce a rule, the pay off in obedience is well worth it.