Keys to Family Happiness/ Continue with Keys to Success

Colossians 3:21:  "Fathers, do not nag your children.  If you are too hard to please, they may want to stop trying." - International Children's Bible.   Some parents try to micromanage their teen.  To keep them in line, they all but lock him in the house.  They pick his friends for him and eavesdrop on his phone calls.  But these techniques  can backfire. Confining him may only make him want to escape; constantly criticizing his friends might only increase their appeal; eavesdropping could compel him to find ways to communicate with his friends behind your back.  They more you try to gain control, the less control you may end up having. If your teen never learns to make decisions for himself while at home, how will he know to make them after he leaves?

 Try This:  The next time you talk to your teens about an issue, help him to reason on how is choices reflect on him.  For example, instead if criticizing his friends, say: "What if  (name)  got arrested for breaking the law?  How would that make you look?" Help your teen to see how his choices either enhance  his reputation or tarnish it. - PROVERBS 11:17,  22; 20:21.  

Ephesians 6:4: "Do not be irritating your children, but on bringing them up in the discipline and mental-regulating of the Jehovah."  The term "mental-regulating  refers to more than imparting facts. It means to appeal to the moral consciousness of the child in such a way that it influences his actions. This is especially crucial when your child becomes adolescent. "The older your children get," says a father named Andre, "the more you need to adjust your approach and to reason with him." - 2 TIMOTHY 3:14. 

Next time: Keys to Family Happiness/ Conclusion of Keys to Success\

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