Do you know or parent a child who is very compliant?
NEWSFLASH: It’s most likely a personality trait. Your awesome parenting did not create a compliant child.
Do you know or parent a child who is strong willed and likes to buck at every turn?
NEWSFLASH: That is also mostly a personality trait. Your parental mistakes (and friends, we ALL make loads of them) did not create a child who insists on blazing their own trail!
Do your remember Adam and Eve? Created by a perfect God, living in a sinless world, and no “good” excuse for their choices. Even they did not follow God’s directions!!!
NEWSFLASH: You will never be a more perfect parent than God!
If your kids are compliant (or obedient) most of the time, don’t take the credit for it. Compliance is most often a God-given personality trait.
Don’t be prideful in your parenting. You can learn all you can and do the best you can but don’t put your kids and their behavior on a pedestal. Whenever you see kids put on a pedestal, it is because the parents want to be on the pedestal but this is a more accepted way of getting the accolades. I think we can all agree though, it is obnoxious and exhausting to be friends with people who always need to talk about the amazing things their children accomplish. By the same token, there is no need to humiliate and shame your children for mistakes. Quite honestly, there are a ton of natural consequences that come with risky behavior, even some that we have to live with. While we would like children to learn these hard lessons sooner rather than later and with as little pain and embarrassment as possible, sometimes it takes a lifetime of learning. They will learn as they grow. We all do.
“Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one’s status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one’s inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status.” Lao-Tzu
While I am not a big fan of Lao-Tzu, there is some great insight in that quote. Pride and fear are very interconnected. Pride can mess up quite a bit of stuff. I have seen it cripple people, families, congregations, and ministries. Be careful! It can creep up on you. If you consider yourself above accountability, then you have some issues with pride. If you do not ask for accountability and allow people to hold you accountable for what you do and say, then be ready for that ugly day when it all comes crashing down. It is important to take this issue of pride seriously. It is often something we can see in others more quickly than we can see it in ourselves. Ask God to reveal your areas of pride. Take the risk and ask an honest friend too.
Every time I land in Proverbs I am reminded that I need to spend more time there:
Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed
than to share plunder with the proud.
[Proverbs 16:18-19]
Lord, You know me inside and out. You created me. You love me. You desire for me to learn and grow. Pride is not a part of what You desire for me. Bring me to a greater place of dependency on You. When You see pride in me, You also see fear. Replace that fear with trust in You. Let me be real, accessible, and accountable. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
prayerpointsbyliz 
This is great, Liz! I have just deleted my 5 paragraph response, and am going to write a blog post as a response, and link back to your post. This is something God has had on my heart, too. Thanks for sharing God’s Truth!
Can’t wait to see what you are led to say, Kara. This is a huge issue in the world of homeschooling!!!
Liz, I didn’t know you had a blog until I saw Kara’s link on Facebook. What you’ve said is very true. And just as it is easy to become prideful when your child is compliant, it is easy to become discouraged when your child is not! We have to always remember that our children are separate people and not just reflections of us (whether good or bad) as their parents. The challenge is to do our best to raise them according to God’s instructions and then leave the rest up to Him.
Janet–ahh….yes, the discouragement in parenting is hard too, but it is a part of the package. We are all learning and growing. I do believe God is working to chisel us as much (or even more) than our kids! Liz
That’s something I’ve been learning since being a mother–that just as God is using me to teach, train, and love my child, He is also using my child to chisel away at the un-Christ-like parts of me!
Absolutely! Well said!