Like the farmer, parents sow seeds. We plant seeds for growth in character and values. We sow rituals to foster traditions. Our children’s hearts are the soil. Sometimes it is rocky. Sometimes shallow. Other times our seeds compete with the thorns of bad habits and negative culture. But there is always the HOPE that some seed will fall on good soil. We need to be faithful to continue sowing seeds AND nurture the soil.
Discipline needs leadership, and our families need parents willing to lead.
In our current culture of parenting, we are seeing some of the negative effects of indulgent-parenting and over-parenting. As parents have tried to help and protect out of love, they have enabled their children to become helpless, irresponsible, and narcissistic. Our children need consistent boundaries and discipline that match their maturity and responsibility.
Discipline is not rules and punishments. Rather, discipline is a discipleship process of equipping people to become men and women of good works.
