IMITATE JEHOVAH WHEN TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN - Be Reasonable

Be Reasonable

When giving ear to their children, parents must be reasonable and reflect "the wisdom from above."  (James 3:17)  "Let your reasonableness become known to all men,"  wrote the apostle Paul.  (Philippians 4:5)  What does it mean to be reasonable?  One definition of the Greek word translated  "reasonable" is "not insisting on the letter of the law."  While upholding firm moral and spiritual standards, how can parents be reasonable?

Jehovah sets an outstanding example in reasonableness.  (Psalm 10:17)  When he urged Lot and his family to leave the doomed city of Sodom, Lot "kept lingering."  Later, when Jehovah's angel asked him to escape to the mountainous region, Lot said:  "I am not able to escape to the mountainous region . . .Please, now, this city [Zoar] is nearby to flee there, and it is a small thing.  May I, please, escape there-is it not a small thing. How did Jehovah react to this?  He said:  "Here I do show you consideration to this extent also, by my not overthrowing the city of which you have spoken."  (Genesis 19:16-21, 30)   Jehovah was willing to consent to Lot's request.  Yes, parents need to adhere to the standards that Jehovah God sets out in his Word, the Bible.  Still, it might be possible to accommodate the young ones' wishes when Bible principles are not jeo0pardized. 

Being reasonable includes preparing the children's heart so that they are ready to accept counsel.  In an illustrative way, Isaiah compared Jehovah to a farmer and said:  "Is it all day long that the plower plows in order to sow seed, that he loosens and harrows his ground?  Doe she not, when he has smooth out its surface, then scatter black cumin and sprinkle the cumin, and must he not put in wheat,millet, and barley in the appointed place, and spelt as his boundary?" -Isaiah 28:24, 25.

Jehovah "plows in order to sow seed" and "loosens and harrows his ground."  he thus prepares the heart of his people before disciplining them.  In correcting their children, how can parents 'plow' their offspring's heart?  One father imitated Jehovah when correcting his four-year-old boy.  When his son hit a neighbor boy, the father told a story of a little boy who suffered terrible hardship at the hands of a bully.   Upon hearing the story, the move was moved to say that the bully must be punished.  Such 'plowing' prepared the boy's heart and made it easier for him to see that hitting the neighbor boy was the act of a bully and was wrong. -2 Samuel 12:1-14.

Isaiah further compared Jehovah's correction to another farming process-threshing.  A farmer uses different threshing instruments according to the toughness of the chaff of the grain.  A rod is used for tender black cumin and a staff for cumin, but  a sledge or cart wheel is used for grains with tougher chaff.  Still, he will not tread the harder grains to the point of crushing them .  Likewise, when Jehovah wants to remove anything undesirable in his people, he varies his treatment according to existing needs and circumstances.  He is never arbitrary or heavy-handed.  (Isaiah 28:26-29) Some children respond  to just a glance from their parents, and nothing more is needed.  Others require repeated reminders, while still others may need persuasion of a stronger kind.  Reasonable parents will apply correction according to the individual child's needs.

Next time: IMITATE JEHOVAH WHEN TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN - Make Family Discussion Enjoyable

The Watchtower, 2001