July 21, 2012

What Your Child Treasures

What is your child interested in? What does he think about? Where does she spend her money? What do your kids like to do? Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).Most of the time the activities our children choose indicate what they treasure. Because the heart and behavior are closely linked, parents can look for things their kids can do that will encourage healthy heart change. Look for ways to guide your children into constructive and helpful activities, hobbies, and relationships.

Sometimes you’ll have to limit certain activities, but look for positive ones to replace those you’re taking away. Try to attract your children to good choices by providing opportunities they’d enjoy. By adjusting what your children do, you can influence what they enjoy and eventually what they treasure.

Sometimes simply providing different choices guides a child into more healthy heart situations, but other children seem to have a bent towards treasuring the wrong things. Or they may want to spend hours in activities that aren’t necessarily bad, but you know they don’t contribute to maturity and growth.

You may have to use a combination of approaches, including setting some firm limits to guide your child in the right direction. That’s part of the hard work of parenting, but it’s not optional. Be creative and look for alternatives, but recognize that, if a child isn’t responding, you may have to provide parental control. Don’t be afraid to take a stand to redirect your child into more healthy choices. After all, too much of a particular thing can have an unhelpful affect on the heart.

This parenting tip comes from the book Parenting is Heart Work by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

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