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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Our hearts are like the earth we walk on; if left alone, they are sure to produce weeds.
you can't just let them follow their own desires. You need to think, judge, and act for them, just as you would for someone who is weak and blind.
They don't yet know what's best for their mind and soul, just as they don't know what's best for their body.
You don't let them choose what to eat, drink, or wear, so be consistent and treat their mind in the same way. Guide them on the path that aligns with scripture and what's right, not just what they think they want.
Love should be the guiding principle in all your actions. Kindness, gentleness, patience, understanding, empathy, being willing to engage with a child's problems, and being eager to join in their joys - these are the most effective ways to connect with a child.
We're like young horses being trained: treat them gently and kindly, and eventually, you can guide them with just a thread; but if you handle them roughly and aggressively, it'll take a long time before you can gain any control over them at all.
Their minds are similar to a lump of metal - they can't be shaped and made useful all at once, but rather through a series of small steps.
"Line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" should be our approach.
The sharpening stone works slowly, but with frequent use, it will bring the blade to a sharp edge.
Love is the key to successful training. Anger and harshness may scare a child, but they won't convince them that you're right. If a child often sees you losing your temper, they will soon lose respect for you.
Grace is the most powerful principle of all. Just look at the incredible transformation grace brings when it enters the heart of someone who has been sinning for a long time - it completely overthrows Satan's strongholds, levels mountains, fills valleys, straightens out crooked paths, and completely recreates the person.
He provides your children with a mind that can easily accept new ideas, like moist clay. He gives them a natural inclination at the beginning of their lives to believe what you tell them, to accept your advice without question, and to trust your word over a stranger's.
These people have hopes for their children in the same way Balaam did - they want them to have the end of a righteous person, but they don't do anything to help them live that kind of life. They have big desires but achieve nothing.
Nothing should matter more to you than their eternal well-being. The part of them that should be dearest to you is the part that will never die. The world, with all its glory, will eventually fade away; the hills will disappear; the heavens will close up like a scroll; the sun will stop shining. But the spirit within those little ones you love so much will outlive everything else, and whether they experience happiness or misery (speaking from a human perspective) will depend on you.
if you truly love your children, make the Bible the main focus in their spiritual upbringing, and let all other books take a secondary role.
Make sure they read it regularly. Teach them to consider it as their soul's daily nourishment - as something crucial for their soul's daily well-being. I understand that you can't make this anything more than a routine, but you never know how much sin a simple routine may indirectly prevent.
Prayer is a unique characteristic of all genuine Christians today. They pray - because they share their needs, feelings, desires, and fears with God, and they truly mean what they say.
Prayer is the turning point in a person's soul. Our efforts and hard work are useless until you start praying.
Even those who follow Christ have a yoke to bear, as they "serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:24). Children should learn early on that this world is not meant for everyone to be in charge, and we are only in the right place when we know how to obey those who are wiser than us.
Teach your children to obey while they are young, or else they will spend their lives resisting God's authority and exhaust themselves with the futile idea of being independent of His control.
And humans, weak and sinful as we are, must have something to do, or else our souls will quickly fall into an unhealthy state. We must keep our hands busy and our minds occupied with something, or else our imaginations will soon create trouble.
Truly, I think that laziness has led to more sin than almost any other habit you could think of. I believe it is the root cause of many immoral acts - the source of adultery, promiscuity, excessive drinking, and many other dark deeds that I don't have time to mention.
The same goes for the soul. An active, moving mind is difficult for the devil to target. Try to always be busy with useful tasks, and your enemy will find it hard to find space to sow tares.
