Ginger Hubbard

The Bible says that parents are to train their children in righteousness.

And so when we view those opportunities, every time our children misbehave, when we look at that as this is a precious opportunity to point them to the truths and the wisdom of God's Word.

then we are going to be far more righteous in our training.

We're going to be eager and joyful all the time for those opportunities rather than angry and frustrated.

Now, I know better than anyone that's so much easier said than done when they do those behaviors that are really getting under our skin.

It's hard to view it like that.

But when we look at that as this is a fantastic opportunity to point them to the fact that they are sinners,

just like I am in need of a Savior.

And here is this wisdom from God's Word.

And when we pray and ask Him to help us, the Holy Spirit helps us to live in ways that honor Him and that bring Him the glory He deserves.

And so we want to view them as those precious opportunities, not as frustrating moments of inconvenience when they misbehave.

By taking those moments to not just be frustrated and saying, you know, you're doing this, you're getting on my nerves, I'm busy doing something else, you just need to go to your room.

That is reactive parenting.

Proactive parenting is, okay, let's talk through this.

Let's get past this outward behavior that you're demonstrating.

Let's talk about what is at the root of that outward behavior.

What is going on in your heart?

And then we can look to Scripture because God is not just concerned with our outward behavior.

He is always concerned with the heart.

So we want to learn how to do that, how to get past that outward behavior, help our children recognize what is going on in their hearts,