Friday, January 5, 2007

Rules for When I Have a Family (A work in progress)

When I was younger, I thought my parents’ rules were over the top. We didn’t need so many rules, and my kids certainly weren’t going to have as many rules as we had.

Now I live with a family that has a very different parenting philosophy than I saw in my family and I’m learning how important it is to know what battles to fight with my children (when I have them to worry about).

1. Respect

  1. Honor your father and mother.
  2. Parents, do not exasperate your children.
  3. Obedience.
  4. Expect respect. Reward it, and discipline the lack of respect.
  5. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
  • Proverbs 13:13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.
  • Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
  • Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
  • 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
  • Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
  • Proverbs 22:4 Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.
  • Psalm 62:7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
  • Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
  • Isaiah 26:13 O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.
  • Matthew 15:4 For God said, “Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”
  • Matthew 15:8 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
  • Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
  • Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—
  • 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
  • Revelation 4:11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
  • Revelation 5:12 In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

2. Follow-Through

  1. Set rules and consequences.
  2. Adhere to those rules.

3. Discipline

  1. Don’t be afraid to discipline.
  2. Discipline so that all the children know the consequence.
  • Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
  • Deuteronomy 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
  • Deuteronomy 21:18-19 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
  • Job 5:17 Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
  • Psalm 94:12 Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law;
  • Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
  • Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke,
  • Proverbs 5:23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
  • Proverbs 10:17 He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
  • Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
  • Proverbs 13:18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
  • Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
  • Proverbs 15:5 A fool spurns his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
  • Proverbs 15:5 A fool spurns his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
  • Proverbs 15:10 Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
  • Proverbs 15:32 He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
  • Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.
  • Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
  • Proverbs 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
  • Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.
  • 1 Corinthians 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
  • 2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
  • Hebrews 12:5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
  • Hebrews 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
  • Hebrews 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
  • Hebrews 12:8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
  • Hebrews 12:9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
  • Hebrews 12:10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
  • Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
  • Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

4. Communication


5. Cleanliness