Why Children Matter

by Douglas Wilson

If there is one thing that you take away from this little book it should be this: parents have a tendency to mislabel the lesson. If you have ever been in a Bible study trying to track with the lesson when everyone else is in 1 Kings and you are in 2 Kings, then the more you try, the more awkward it gets. If they are doing one thing and you are doing something completely different, you are going to get completely muddled. Imagine a basic showdown scenario: suppose a toddler is standing at the coffee table right across from you and repeatedly wants to mess with the vase. Suppose further that the toddler has just gotten mobile and you have not child-proofed the house yet, and they keep wanting to touch the vase. Too often, parents think that the lesson is entitled “How not to mess with vases,” when the actual lesson is called “How not to get exasperated with other people.” You are teaching the toddler how not to get exasperated with other people when they cross you repeatedly, and that is the real lesson you are teaching them.