Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Throw away the "input/output" theory of parenting!

"And 'train up a child in the way he shall go'—we've taken that verse to an extreme, to almost make it a guarantee. And I was always taught with Proverbs, you read them as tendencies. At Dallas Seminary, this was drilled into us—you take those as tendencies. We've taken that verse, along with a lot of the social pressures, and we've fallen for this faulty 'input/output' theory of parenting that says, whatever I put into my kid is what I'm going to get out of my kid. And that is just not true."

"As a pastor, I am constantly trying to challenge our parents with the verse, 'His mercies are new every day.'  So we have to let ourselves go a little bit—because here's what I've found with Christian parents especially: we take too way too much credit and way too much blame for the way our children turn out."

~Ted Cunningham on Focus on the Family interview, "Moving Beyond Performance-Based Parenting"

1 comment:

Karen Hossink said...

"we take too way too much credit and way too much blame for the way our children turn out."

Amen to that!!!