Teen's Advice To Parents About Nurturing Spiritual Growth

These are Teen's Advice To Parents About Nurturing Spiritual Growth.

Be involved! 
Talk to your kids about God, and pray with each child specifically about his or her concerns.  Also don't forget to always talk to God about your kids and also bless them during their sleep.

Talk about it!
You must be sensitive with the struggles that your kids are going through, and don't discount it or take it for granted.  You can also relate your experiences as a young person.  When my kids were young, they love (and even urge us) to tell them about our childhood experiences which usually started with "During our early childhood years..."  or "When I was just a young boy/ girl..." You could really see the excitement on their faces as they listen to the story.  Verbally and practically, create a 'safe' environment.

Take time to pray with your teens.
We do this every night, before going to bed, and every morning, at the start of the day.  We pray as we drove to school. This shows that the parent truly cares about what is going on in her or his teen's life.  Encourage them to get involved in Christian groups, and find Christian music they enjoy.  Music really is powerful in affecting an individual, so be sure to plug them in to the good music!

Have a relationship with your teen, and talk openly and often about your faith.
Real relationship means that you really relate with your teen.  You know them deeply and not only knowing what and when they need something.  You let them feel that you really care for them and you are there when they need you especially during hard or crucial moments,  when they have some questions in mind about life that would probably be difficult for them to find the answers.  You could treat them as your friend.

Spend time in God's Word with them.  Pray with them and for them. Open doors of communication by creating a 'safe' environment.  It's like telling them that your teens could approach you anytime of the day and you are there to listen to them and talk with them.  Explain that God does not wait on the edge of His seat for us to make mistakes so He can judge us.  He loves us and wants us to walk in His grace.

Being a parent is a great opportunity of reflecting the image of our loving heavenly Father.  This is one way to disciple them to be Christ-like.

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Top 5 Reasons Why Your Children Won't Listen To Your Voice

As parents, we would truly be delighted if our children are really obedient to us.  And many times, the opposite is what happening inside every home, even a Christian family home.  This is one area of being parents where we also struggle the most,  how to train your children in the way of the Lord is the challenge here.

Most of the time I share the verse from Ephesians 6:1 "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right." to remind them that it is their duty as children to be obedient with their parents at all times except that if it is against moral and against the will of God.

Based on my experience, I would love to share with you the top 5 reasons why our children are somewhat "disobedient" to us and would not listen to our voice.

1. Household Rules are not properly defined or installed and therefore not properly understood.

Just like in every game we play, house rules should be properly defined, communicated and understood by every member of the family.  If needed, rewards and penalty should be communicated as well and also must be imposed.

2. Children were not trained well especially during their early years.

"Train up a child in the way he should go so that when he is old he will not depart from it" as the Proverbs says.  It is important to input go values, obedience for one, to a child's mind especially during his early childhood, as early as 3 or 4 year old, I believe.  For this will become the foundation of good moral values and right conduct as he or she is growing from childhood to teenage years to adolescent and to adulthood.

3. Kids were not motivated to being obedient.

What is there to being obedient?  There should be a proper motivation for children to become obedient.  I don't believe that corporal punishment or spanking is the answer as it is the opposite of motivation, if you know what I mean.  In fact, my middle child, a daughter, will endure the spanking, she would not even cry a tear even if she was spanked or punished for disobedience, as long as she can.  She is a Strong-Willed Child (SWC), I know, for I was one, too, when I was a child. :)   Shouting or yelling won't do either, believe me, I've been there.

This is the part where you should do the hard work as a parent.  Take time to study the attitudes and habits of your kids.  And I mean, spend more time to be with your children so that you will know them better.  And this should start as early as possible.  Cultivate good relationship, and correct your children's bad behavior as young as they are.  I believe that in doing this, you will have a proper "grasp" on how to really motivate your children towards obedience, not only to you as their parents, but to other people as well, especially those of authorities.

4. You are not showing a good example.

"Walk your talk" is the key here.  For our kids to become obedient, we need to be obedient first.  We need to obey the rules we ourselves set in our homes.  We are not excuse from not being obedient.  In so doing, it will not be difficult for us to rear our children towards being obedient.

5. We are being inconsistent.

We should be consistent especially with our words and the house rules that we set.  If we say "yes" we should mean "yes" and "no" should really be "no".  There should be no room for inconsistencies.  Remember, our children are watching and observing our actions and also the way we treat them if they are being obedient or not.

"Wew!", I heard you say.  I know that it is really tough being a parent, but I also believe that if you avoid these things, we will surely reap a good harvest and if you have trained your kids in the way of the Lord, I bet you'll be glad you did. :)

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Teach your kids how to have a business

Teaching your kids how to earn money or to have a business to have an income at an early age would be very beneficial to them in the long run.

Just a few weeks ago, one of our children had a project requirements on one of their projects at school.  Using the internet and the computer, we come up with the said project and my daughter had open up the idea of sharing her project with her classmates and giving them access on the computer and the net and have each of them printed their projects at a minimum cost.

She put the amount that she collected in her piggy bank to be deposited in her bank account that we have opened for them, along with her brother and sister.

In this way, we are teaching our children how to become entrepreneurial and to have income even at an early age.

There are still other opportunities to earn even minimal amount for the children if we are just a keen observer and open minded for opportunities that come our way.  Remember, in every problem is an opportunity for you to earn.

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Correct Me As I Deserve

"Correct me in your as I deserve, but not in your anger, or I will be dead."

Spare the rod and spoil the child.   Oftentimes, we parents are in a dilemma when we should discipline our child.  We are afraid that they might become angry or mad at us for a long time.  But that will not be so, with proper kind of explanation as to why we should give our child a "spank", that is, because he or she did something wrong, it will be understood.  And that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

And God properly instructed us to "train a child in the way he should go so that when he is old he will not depart from it.  Whatever we taught our child since he or she is just a little kid, he or she will become that kind of person.

A proper way to discipline our child is not in our anger, but rather in love.  The way we converse with him or her, telling him or her why we should discipline him.  Explaining in proper way.  Of course, our children is not in the position to question things we are doing to make them the kind of person we want to be, but I believe they also deserve to understand why.  Doing that, we will also gain our child's respect that we also deserve.  Just be firm with whatever rules that we have agreed in our home.

If we truly love our children, we will also discipline them in a proper way.  In love, and not in anger.

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Say Sorry To Your Kid is a Great Thing

Oftentimes as adults, it is very hard for us to say I am sorry, maybe because of our pride.  It is even more difficult for most parents to say sorry to their children.  Of course, we are still human, and we are also prone to commit mistake even to our children.

One good example is when we are disciplining our kids when they quarrel and we're not sure who started what and so we might end up spanking or disciplining the wrong child.  There is nothing wrong to say sorry to your child if you have made the mistake.  In fact, it is a magical thing to do and at the same time you are teaching your child the value of being humble.

Children also mostly feel validated when their parents know how to apologize or say sorry for some mistakes that they have done as parents.

And one more thing, when you say sorry to your kid say it like you mean it from your heart.  Kids can really feel and detect it if our feelings and expressions are genuine or not.

In the end, your parent-child relationship will grow more stronger.

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