Children Are People

All the books I mentioned and the whole concept of Teachable Parenting comes down to the realization that children are people too. Did Dr. Seuss not already tell us this in Horton Hears a Who? A person’s a person no matter how small. Obviously a child is different than an adult. They sit in a car seat in the back for their safety because they are smaller. They go to school and not work because their minds are still developing. They don’t drive cars or own real estate because a full grown person is not equal to an immature person, but if anything this should make us be more considerate of these fragile people rather than to overlook their needs because they are merely children.

I came across an article the other day that posed the idea that everything the Bible has to say about loving your neighbor would therefor also apply to your family. She even uses the same Dr. Seuss quote I do on the subject. I believe Jen Wilken really hits the nail on the head when she says

"If children are people, then our own children are our very closest neighbors. No other neighbor lives closer or needs our self-sacrificing love more."

She then goes onto list out some excellent verses that can be applied to common parenting situations and I would really encourage you to go to the link and check it out. A couple of my favorites are:

When I want to correct my kids with harshness:

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

When I want to lecture them:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20)

When I want to make them make me look awesome:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philipians 2:3-4)

Or there is always the golden rule of course (Matthew 7:12)! It's so simple, and yet so profound. The Bible talks a lot about how we should treat other people. Children are people. They are needy, vulnerable, young people and they are a gift from the Lord.