Raising Your Kids with Purpose and Grace

My wife recounted a conversation she had the first time she took our daughter to the dentist. Like most first-time parents, we were fairly clueless about how to care for our little princess. It seemed common-sense that you’d start brushing her teeth when she actually had teeth, right?

Wrong.

The dentist recommended we go ahead and start brushing her gums because you want to get her used to the types of behavior that she will grow into over time.

I’ve thought about this over the decade since that conversation. The basic concept was clear—you practice important habits before the child actually needs to implement them so they are already in place when they become necessary. This is the work of a strategic dad of a toddler.

Wise discipline for your children begins prior to any actual incident of misbehavior. In order to practice correction wisely and effectively, you’ll want to prepare—starting with preparing yourself.

Plus 17 ideas for books to read to your children

How can our mission to help our children grow in favor with God and man be accomplished? As we rely on God’s grace to love him and love others, we show our children what it looks like to follow the Great Commandment. As our children learn to follow that example, loving God and others, they will grow in favor with God and man.

Quick—think of someone you admire. What four or five attributes do you admire about them? 

Maybe you thought of their talents or skills—or even their strength or their intelligence. But it’s likely most of the things you thought of have to do with character. 

We should think about our kids in a similar way. We want our kids to grow physically and develop skills in academics, arts, and sports, is that really what we want our kids to be known for?  I think we want our children to be known for their character—for being brave or kind or wise. 

We all know that prayer is important, at least in theory. And we all know that family is important. So surely it should come naturally for us to pray for our families? 

But despite this logic, we probably all (at least from time to time) struggle with praying for our families. Here are 8 ways to pray for your family...