Rethinking!
"When I think back about my line of thinking back in those days, I realize that I did not view my children properly. I somehow thought that if I constantly uplifted and encouraged them, that would produce the goodness I wished to see. This is where I went wrong. "
This is a paragraph from my post on November 16 of last year. Some of my new studies have given light to understanding that statement. I have been influenced by a common thought pattern of this culture.
Dr. Adams, in "The Christian Couselors Manual", has explained that there are several thoughts involved in the area of psychology today. Simply put, we are most familiar with Dr. Freud's views which assesses man to be a sociable animal(notice-not responsible to a Creator). He explains that a man has problems when he is not socialized properly. People in authority over him exercise constraints and depending upon his own personality they may impose a structure that was not meant to be his, thus causing psychological problems. Therefore, we have the common thought that the parents and stronger authority figures are the problem.
In order to take care of the problem, an expert, such as a psychologist, is the only person qualified to help an individual with these problems. The expert must, through a series of questions, identify the offending party (Mom is usually a real good place to start), and then take the place of that authority in this patient's life so as to recondition and resocialize him into ignoring the guilt and pricks of his conscience that a "going against the rules" will produce. OH MY!!! That one is easy for me to see through. Any bible-believing Christian has no trouble understanding that scripture violently opposes that view. Just read the book of Proverbs and see the many exhortations to obeying parents and authority!
But I was unaware of the sly trick of Satan in the work of Dr. B. F. Skinner. He, too, believes that only an expert can affect change in an individual but rather than employ a listening and advising stance, he goes to science and behavior modification.
Remember this that he, once again, believes in man as an animal and not responsible to a Creator. He believes man's problem is due to his environment and a modification of actions and reactions will settle the issue once and for all. Another words, he doesn't believe it is the individuals fault, we are all inherently good. All we need is for everyone to properly react to us with reward and punishment and our ills will be solved. There are two popular shows on TV now that are using this approach.
This is the one that seemed so feasible and right to me as I parented. I hated to see parents that were so harsh and corrected those children in front of others. I tried to always respect my child's privacy and never to embarrass him or her. I tried to reward the good acts and was very careful about punishment.
So, what was wrong with that? Plenty! For one thing, I had a hard time grasping that my child(though I knew it very well) was just a little sinner. I never thought that I would fall for the trick of thinking that my child was somehow different in that respect but "mother's love" is so faulty and impressionable.
What I should have been teaching my children is that the Bible is the final authority since it was written by our Creator. We are responsible to Him. We live and breathe for His glory. When we disobey His commandments, it is sin and we are responsible to Him for it.
To this day, I find myself watching for the "underdog" on the bus and trying to "love" him into right actions. I must come to grips with the fact that my "love" is powerless unless yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit. He alone can minister to a child through my "love".
This really is deep thinking and can influence a person to depression if not for the reality that we, as Christians, do have hope!! We are sinners! We do have problems! But there is not one that can not be handled when we properly yield, first of all, our souls to Him and then our lives to the obedience of His commandments. He is a gracious and loving God and has provided, not only, for our eternal salvation but for our victorious daily living.
Proverbs 6:20
"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother."
This is a paragraph from my post on November 16 of last year. Some of my new studies have given light to understanding that statement. I have been influenced by a common thought pattern of this culture.
Dr. Adams, in "The Christian Couselors Manual", has explained that there are several thoughts involved in the area of psychology today. Simply put, we are most familiar with Dr. Freud's views which assesses man to be a sociable animal(notice-not responsible to a Creator). He explains that a man has problems when he is not socialized properly. People in authority over him exercise constraints and depending upon his own personality they may impose a structure that was not meant to be his, thus causing psychological problems. Therefore, we have the common thought that the parents and stronger authority figures are the problem.
In order to take care of the problem, an expert, such as a psychologist, is the only person qualified to help an individual with these problems. The expert must, through a series of questions, identify the offending party (Mom is usually a real good place to start), and then take the place of that authority in this patient's life so as to recondition and resocialize him into ignoring the guilt and pricks of his conscience that a "going against the rules" will produce. OH MY!!! That one is easy for me to see through. Any bible-believing Christian has no trouble understanding that scripture violently opposes that view. Just read the book of Proverbs and see the many exhortations to obeying parents and authority!
But I was unaware of the sly trick of Satan in the work of Dr. B. F. Skinner. He, too, believes that only an expert can affect change in an individual but rather than employ a listening and advising stance, he goes to science and behavior modification.
Remember this that he, once again, believes in man as an animal and not responsible to a Creator. He believes man's problem is due to his environment and a modification of actions and reactions will settle the issue once and for all. Another words, he doesn't believe it is the individuals fault, we are all inherently good. All we need is for everyone to properly react to us with reward and punishment and our ills will be solved. There are two popular shows on TV now that are using this approach.
This is the one that seemed so feasible and right to me as I parented. I hated to see parents that were so harsh and corrected those children in front of others. I tried to always respect my child's privacy and never to embarrass him or her. I tried to reward the good acts and was very careful about punishment.
So, what was wrong with that? Plenty! For one thing, I had a hard time grasping that my child(though I knew it very well) was just a little sinner. I never thought that I would fall for the trick of thinking that my child was somehow different in that respect but "mother's love" is so faulty and impressionable.
What I should have been teaching my children is that the Bible is the final authority since it was written by our Creator. We are responsible to Him. We live and breathe for His glory. When we disobey His commandments, it is sin and we are responsible to Him for it.
To this day, I find myself watching for the "underdog" on the bus and trying to "love" him into right actions. I must come to grips with the fact that my "love" is powerless unless yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit. He alone can minister to a child through my "love".
This really is deep thinking and can influence a person to depression if not for the reality that we, as Christians, do have hope!! We are sinners! We do have problems! But there is not one that can not be handled when we properly yield, first of all, our souls to Him and then our lives to the obedience of His commandments. He is a gracious and loving God and has provided, not only, for our eternal salvation but for our victorious daily living.
Proverbs 6:20
"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother."
posted by momlinda1945 | 3:15 PM
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