Based on the writings of David Brandt Berg

Lead your children to receive Jesus. There will be times when the natural love God has given you for your children won’t be enough to satisfy your child’s needs. Your children need their own connection with the source of all love, God Himself, and they make that connection by receiving Jesus.

Connecting with Jesus is so simple that even two-year-olds can do it. All you need to do is explain to your children that if they will ask Jesus to come into their hearts, He will be their best Friend, forgive them for having been bad sometimes, and help them to be good. Then lead them in a prayer like this one: “Dear Jesus, forgive me for sometimes being bad. Please come into my heart and be my best Friend forever. Amen.”

Give your children God’s Word. What could help your children more than teaching them to find faith, inspiration, guidance, and answers to their questions and problems in the Word? “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Daily time in the Word is the key to spiritual progress, and that’s true at any age.

The secret to raising happy, well-behaved, and well-adjusted children is actually quite simple—love. It’s knowing how to apply that love that isn’t always so straightforward or easy. Here are ten tips that are sure to help.

If your children are quite young, you can start by reading to them from a children’s Bible or Bible storybooks, or by watching Bible-based videos with them, explaining things when needed. Be consistent and make it fun, and your children will soon be “built up in [Jesus] and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7). Then they will be less likely to be led astray by ungodly influences or search elsewhere for answers, because their lives will be built on the rock-solid foundation of God’s Word.

Teach your children to be motivated by love. God wants us all to do what’s right, not out of fear of punishment but because we love Him and others and therefore want to do what’s right. If you’ve led your children to receive Jesus and taught them to love and respect both Him and others, they will develop that right, loving motivation over time if given enough positive reinforcement.

You can teach your children from a very early age to put love into action by being unselfish and considerate of others’ feelings and needs. Jesus summed it up in Matthew 7:12, in what is now known as the Golden Rule. The following paraphrase makes a great starting place in teaching little ones to be motivated by love: “Treat others the way you would like to be treated.”

Promote honest, open communication. If your children know that they can expect you to react calmly and lovingly no matter what, they will be much more likely to confide in you. And if you build a relationship of mutual trust and understanding while your children are small, they will be more likely to keep that line of communication open when they reach their preteen and teen years and their emotions and problems become much more complex.

Put yourself in your children’s place. Try to relate to your children on their level and not expect too much of them. Also remember that children tend to be more sensitive than adults, so it’s important to be extra considerate of their feelings. We all know how demoralizing it is to be embarrassed, hurt, or slighted by others, so realizing that such unpleasant experiences can be even more traumatic to children should cause us to do our best to spare them from such incidents.

Set a good example. Be the best role model that you can be—not by trying to appear perfect in your children’s eyes, but by being loving, accepting, patient, and forgiving, and by striving to demonstrate the other virtues and live the values you want your children to have.

Set reasonable rules for behavior. Children are happiest when they know their boundaries and those boundaries are lovingly and consistently enforced. A spoiled, demanding, and irresponsible child becomes a spoiled, demanding, and irresponsible adult, so it’s important that children learn to take responsibility for their actions. The goal of discipline is self-discipline, without which your children will be at a great disadvantage later in school, business, and the social world.

One of the best methods of establishing the rules is to get your children to help make them, or at least to agree to them. It takes more time and patience to teach them to make the right decisions than it does to punish them for their wrong ones, but it goes a lot further.

Give praise and encouragement. Like the rest of us, children thrive on praise and appreciation. Build their self-esteem by consistently and sincerely commending them for their good qualities and achievements. Also remember that it’s more important and bears far better results to praise children for good behavior than to scold them for bad behavior. Try to always accentuate the positive and your children will feel more loved and secure.

Love unconditionally. God never gives up on us or stops loving us no matter how far we’ve strayed, and that’s the way He wants us to be with our children.

Pray for your children. No matter how hard you try or how well you do at everything else, some situations will be beyond your control or require more than you have to give—but nothing is beyond God’s control or His power. Tap into His limitless resources through prayer. He has all the answers and can supply every need. “Ask and it shall be given” (Matthew 7:7). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).

Happy parenting! ■