THREE CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF DISCIPLINE Many years ago I learned that in order to create a culture of blessing and separate identity from behavior in dealing with my children, I would have to learn to implement the three components of family governance conveyed in Proverbs 6:23. This scripture tells us, "For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the..

When identity and behavior are fused in a parent's mind, that parent will think blessing the identity of a child when he misbehaves is the same as condoning the child's behavior. Consequently, in an attempt to discipline his son's or daughter's behavior, the parent will curse the child's identity. Is it right to bless a rebellious, misbehaving child? Certainly! Blessing should be predicated upon..

CONTROL VS. AUTHORITY While it is important to have specific, regular times of blessing, such as at a weekly meal, it is equally important for parents to establish a general atmosphere of blessing rather than cursing in their home. In order to do this, parents must learn how to separate their children's identity from their behavior. This is  particularly important when the need to discipline ari..

CREATING A FAMILY CULTURE OF BLESSING I BELIEVE IT IS God's plan for every child to do more than receive his parents' blessing once in his life. God wants children to grow up in a culture of blessing. You may be wondering what exactly a culture of blessing is. This is simply an environment in which family members regularly convey to one another God's message of value rather than Satan's message ..

God’s Protective Measures  in Ancient Hebrew Culture As at all the previous critical times of blessing, God estab­lished practices within ancient Hebrew culture that ensured almost every child received his parents‘ blessing when he married Four traditions and social norms stand out in particular:  1. Marriages were primarily arranged by both setsof parents and thus were always blessed.  2. Every..

What’s So Wrong With the Current Dating System?  Something is obviously wrong with a system that has roughlya 50 percent failure rate, but that is what our current dating system has produced. Nearly half of marriages today areending in divorce.  For claritys sake, when I use the word dating I am talking about the strategy in which a young person spends time with people of the opposite gender in ..

SEED ALWAYS BEARS FRUIT AFTER ITS OWN KIND  Suppose a young woman named Mary grows up with a hypercritical father, whom she judges. She then vows to never marry a critical man like her father. Meanwhile a young man named Tom grows up with an undisciplined, obese mother, whom he judges. He then vows to never marry an overweight woman like his mother.  These two young people meet and marry. Tom is..

BLESSING YOUR CHILD AT THE TIME OF MARRIAGE  We now come to the sixth critical time of blessing in the life of a son or daughter. This is the blessing God intended to occur at the time of marriage. Not every son or daughter is called by God to be married, but most are. Just as a significant transition occurs at puberty from childhood to adulthood, another important transition takes place at the ..