3 Rules of the House For Training Young Children

When children are young, it is easy to set up some basic "rules" that will help them to understand their role in the home and their role towards others if you take the time to craft your rules in simple, easy to follow terms. Then as they grow, children will be able to see how these rules expand to fit their growing situations. The challenge is in thinking of the big picture as parents and determining a set of definable standards that will fit most every situation you might encounter. As a Christian, we found it fairly easy to adapt three rules for our children, and each was easy to remember for our kids. We began to train and teach our children these rules when they were very young, and as a result, the tone has been set for years to come.

Our first rule, and I might add that all of them come from the Bible, was taken from Matthew 22:37. It states, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the foundation of how we act and live in our home. This says that we belong to God, and we are to act in love towards Him. When we do that, we will also learn obedience to God's Word. That takes a lifetime of application, so we continually work in this area, both for our children and ourselves, but setting the tone for study of God's Word and His expectations begins the process.

Our next rule of the house is from Deuteronomy 5:16, and we shortened it when our children were young to this part, "Honor your father and mother." That was very simple for young children. We could show it to them in children's Bibles as they got a little older and then even later, they could read it for themselves to see the rest of it, but the idea was clear that mom and dad were to be honored, treated with respect, and trusted to lead in godliness since they could trust that everyone in the family was already obeying the first rule, to love God. Clearly, this rule got some challenging from our children over the years, but it was easy to come back to the rules of the house discussion if they had learned this foundational piece early on. It also covered many, many issues without being too specific allowing this rule to be flexible for many parenting issues, again, assuming that the parents too, are following the first rule and seeking to mentally and spiritually follow God in love.

The final rule, and this one covers a lot of ground so it was a favorite for my husband and me, was from Ephesians 4:32. It says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." When our children were very young, we had them memorize the first part only, but we always said the entire verse. Over time, they learned the whole verse and it was amazing how many of life's issues were covered by this single verse, and still are! How we treat others is truly learned in the home, both by what is said and by what is done, so this verse taught us to be kind and considerate, to be forgiving because we were going to need forgiveness ourselves, and to remember that it all starts at home. We had to model patience, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion to each other and by doing that, we learned to think that way all of the time, even outside of our home.

My children are getting older now, but we still live by these rules. We may not address them specifically as rules now, but we certainly hold them as the standard in our home. Because of that, our home is a refuge and pleasure to be in for all of us. I encourage you to consider the essential rules for your home, and begin to train your children in your rules of the house from an early age.

Hardcover lefthandedguitar The Attic