Parenting Honestly

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Proverbs 22:6

FRANK WASN’T PREPARED FOR the question that Blake, his nine-year-old son, casually threw out as he passed the rolls at dinner. The question focused on specific events that had led to the divorce of the parents of Blake’s friend Will in the previous year. Frank, nervously glancing across the table at his wife, Sheryl, took a deep breath and, although he was a bit uncomfortable, began to answer Blake’s questions openly, honestly, and in a manner that was age-appropriate for Blake and his siblings.

Honesty is one of the first attributes that we teach our children. Telling the truth is essential to establishing the trust that supports all relationships. Though we most often think about honesty from the perspective that our kids need to be honest with us, we must realize that trust can also be undermined when we aren’t completely honest with our kids. Let’s face it: The world we live in can be a very dark and scary place. In an effort to protect our kids, it is very tempting to shield them from hard things.

But what is more frightening for a child: to have a parent lovingly tell them the truth about the broken world that we live in, or to discover through experience that the world portrayed by their parents doesn’t match their reality? Are there any ways in which you are being dishonest with your children in an effort to protect them?

BOTTOM LINE

Our children need us to prepare them for the realities they will face in the world. Ask God to give you the wisdom and courage to do this well.

Moment of Strength: Ephesians 4:25