What Good Parents Do

There is a group of young mums that bring their babies to a sensory program that hires our church hall. According to their website, “The programme has been specifically designed for babies from birth to 13 months, to aid your child's development”.

Behind this sits an assumption. The primary role of parents is to help their children achieve their potential. You can help your children lay down the various neural pathways they will need to succeed, be it in music, movement, intelligence or life.

When I was young, my parents gave us a ball and sent us out into the backyard. But contemporary parents are much more proactive, intentional, and quicker in their interventions.

In Hebrews 12:4-11 we get a different picture about the primary task of parents. ““[T]he Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.”

God reveals his care as a father by disciplining us – by allowing us to endure hardship. It is a sign he loves us. Why? Because “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.”

Self-control does not come naturally. Sadly, selfishness does. Self-control is learned and has two inputs. You need an obstacle or task that is a struggle to overcome. And you need a parent who will walk alongside you, helping you learn self-control by being the right combination of controlling and empowering.

It is hard work, but the rewards are great. A harvest of righteousness (the opposite of being ensnared in sin) and peace. That is what good parents do, and that is part of what God is doing in each of us.