Cookie cutters are wonderful when you are making Christmas cookies or a new line of automobiles. They all look the same and are simple to manufacture. But it also can be dull and boring after a while for the worker when every car you see that day coming off the assembly line has the same body style inside and out.
Too often I hear parents wishing the same thing. Let me find an excellent model of parenting and duplicate what they have done. We watch a child growing up in a home and want to know what the parents did right. However, you're only viewing the child for a few hours. You have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.
You can't cookie cutter parenting. You are not the same person as the one you'd like to model. Your spouse is not their spouse. And your children are not their children. What works for one child does not necessarily work with another. Remember your child is different from any other just as you are.
There are principles in scripture we attempt to live by as parents. Principles are not rules and guidelines. It is not a cookie cutter formula for successful parenting. Parenting begins with a heart devoted to God and allowing his love to flow from you to your spouse first (if you are married) and then to your children. Your parenting comes from God parenting you. He is our model and no one else.
Parenting is not an exact science. What are some of the principles of scripture by which you parent?
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