26 Keys for Christian Parenting

26 Keys for Christian Parenting

by Debbie Taylor Williams

  1. Love your children. 1 Corinthians 13 Be filled with and walk by the Spirit. Eph 5:18, Gal 5:24-25
  2. Model how you want your children to act and speak.
  3. Don’t argue in front of your children unless you want your children to have a tumultuous marriage.
  4. Be the kind of spouse you hope your child marries. If you want your son to marry a nagging, critical, unhappy woman…be one. If you want your son to marry a kind woman who will encourage him, be one.
  5. Eat together.
  6. Pray before meals. Not because you’re supposed to. Because you want to.
  7. Ask your children how you can pray for them.
  8. Set boundaries. Make consequences and rewards clear.
  9. Look in your child’s eyes when you talk to them, when you correct them.
  10. Tell your children you love them in the mornings, at night, in between.
  11. Laugh with your children. Get on the floor and play with them.
  12. Let them do things you don’t necessarily have an interest in. Sports, music, books.
  13. Be willing to invest financially in their development.
  14. Talk to them. Ask questions.
  15. Teach them how to clean the bathroom, sweep, mop, dust, change the sheets.
  16. Catch them when they’re doing something good. Give sincere compliments.
  17. Wait up for your teens or have them wake you when they get home. Ask them about their evening, but don’t drill them. Simply be available if they want to talk.
  18. Be consistent.
  19. Model good health, sleeping, eating, and exercise.
  20. Say, “I’m sorry” when you’ve messed up.
  21. Greet your children with a hug and give them a hug good bye.
  22. Never leave one another without the last words being, “I love you.”
  23. Take your children to church. Don’t make it optional. Start when they’re babies. Don’t be legalistic, but be consistent.
  24. Teach your children Biblical principles. Model the principles you’re teaching them.
  25. Teach your children to serve others, but don’t force your children to have your gifts.
  26. Major in the majors, minor in the minors. Don’t sweat the small stuff.