Character Training – Page 116 – Parenting Like Hannah

Tips for Raising Kids to Reflect God’s Love

Prejudice has a relatively narrow definition in our society. God’s definition is much broader and more thorough. Not only does God make it clear He does not show favoritism, but that He also expects Christians to reflect his love accurately to everyone we meet.

This means we need to train our children to not only refuse to jump to negative conclusions about people based solely on external factors, but also to avoid showing favoritism to those whom they want to impress based on external factors.

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Teaching Kids About Prejudice

Teaching Kids About Prejudice - Parenting Like Hannah When I lived in New York City, I used to get tickled when people assumed I was honest just because I had a slight southern accent. At the same time, the people who thought I was less than intelligent because of that same accent really irritated me.

In the United States, we tend to think of prejudice as always having a negative impression based on someone’s race. Actually, prejudice is pre-judging anyone based on any aspect of them you can see or hear without knowing anything else about them. Often those judgments are negative, but sometimes people can be predisposed to like someone just because the person reminds them of themselves or someone else they like.

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Discernment and Christian Books

Discernment and Christian Books - Parenting Like Hannah Without a doubt, the best book you and your children can read is the Bible. You don’t have to worry about whether or not the authors are accurately communicating God’s will for your life. As the inspired word of God, you can rest assured the Bible has everything you need to support you and your kids in your efforts to live a Christian life.

Even if your teens read their Bibles daily though, they will be reading lots of other books during their high school and college years. Some will be written by people who make no claim to try and communicate any sort of values or will admit their books have no intrinsic value other than entertainment.

The books that scare me are the ones my daughter might read that are written by Christian authors. There is a tendency to assume that since most of the authors are famous ministers or are well known in their ministry area, the things they write should carry just about as much weight and value as scripture. Unfortunately, sometimes Christians would be better off had they not purchased the book at all.

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Five Mistakes Parents Make When Teaching Honesty

The first time your child tells a lie, it is always a shock. How did this innocent little child decide telling you a lie was the best course of action? Are you in danger of raising a pathological liar? Probably not, but if you can avoid some common parenting mistakes, you are more likely to raise a child who is the truthful adult God requires.

So what are these common mistakes? These are the ones I notice parents making over and over.

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Helping Christian Kids Develop Empathy for the Poor

When you read the letters in the New Testament, it becomes obvious a large part of the work of the early Church was helping those in poverty. The causes of the poverty may have varied, but the message was clear – Christians needed to show God’s love to the poor.

If you live in a city like Atlanta and are middle class, there is a very real chance your child has never really been exposed to poverty in a meaningful way. Even if you occasionally volunteer to help the poor, your child may only have the vaguest idea of what life is like on a daily basis for those living in poverty.

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