1). Don’t exasperate your children (see Eph. 6:4). Children can’t be expected to act like adults. If you expect too much from them, they’ll quit trying to please you, knowing it’s impossible.
2). Don’t compare your children with other children. Let them know how much you appreciate about their unique qualities and gifts from God.
3). Give them responsibilities around your home so they will know they are an important part of the family unit. Accomplishments are the building blocks of healthy self-esteem.
4). Spend time with your children. That lets them know they are important to you. Giving them material things is no substitute for giving them yourself. Furthermore, children are influenced the most by those who spend the most time with them.
5). If you must say something negative, try to say it in a positive way. I never told my children they were “bad” when they disobeyed me. Instead, I’d say to my son, “You’re a good boy, and good boys don’t do what you just did!” (Then I’d spank him).
6). Realize the word “no” means “I care about you.” When children always get their way, they intuitively know you don’t care enough to ever restrict them.
7). Expect your children to imitate you. Children learn from the example of their parents. The wise parent will never say to his child, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
8). Don’t bail your children out of all their problems. Only remove stumbling-stones; let stepping stones remain on their path.
9). Serve God with all of your heart. I’ve noticed that children of parents who are spiritually lukewarm rarely continue to serve God in their adulthood. Christian children of unsaved parents and children of fully-committed Christian parents normally continue to serve God once “out of the nest.”
10). Teach your children the Word of God. Parents often prioritize the education of their children but fail to give them the most important education they could get, an education in the Bible.
