How To Raise Children

In These Times
With Strong Christian Values

Raising kids in the twenty first century challenges parents more than ever. Culture calls out to kids, wanting to form them, while many parents want their kids to grow up with a biblical background and faith-based set of values.

So how can a parent ride against the tide of culture to raise strong kids with strong faith? Church attendance certainly makes a different, but parents need to be parents, and they need to use the resources that we have available today.

Consult your local Christian book store, or even the Christian section of a secular book store. You will be amazed at the resources out there that can give you the answers you need to help raising your children.

Both parents should seek out additional resources. Many times just the matriarch of the family seeks out the books with how-to information while the patriarch just trusts her child raising instincts. Both parents should actively parent, not just one. Studies show that children need both parents. Girls need their dads to help form a healthy view of men, and boys need their moms to help form a healthy view of women. So if you want to infuse your faith into your parent, pick up a Christian parenting book.

The teen years challenge parents. Many find themselves more frustrated with their teenagers than they ever were with the coloring on the wall toddlers that graced their homes. But parents should realize that teenagers are not a different breed of creature. They are young adults, crying out for direction on how to be an adult. Thus a teen focused Christian parenting book can give parents the direction they need on how to help their teen act like an adult and make the right decisions.

Smaller children can also benefit from such instruction. While these children challenge their parents, parents can find help in Christian parenting books with age specific advice. Books ranging in topics from godly discipline to teaching your kids manners abound in the Christian section of your local book store. And you'll be amazed at what a difference just a few parenting changes will make in the demeanor of your child.

Sure parents need to take their kids to church. They need to take themselves to church, and they need to seek out the advice of other Christian parents. But Christian parenting books offer them one more resource for raising kids that seek to glorify God and follow the principles laid out in the Bible. In the end, books by great authors like Dr. Dobson and Kevin Leiman can make all the difference in the life of a child and in the family as a whole. So what are you waiting for? Start reading.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as spiritual Christian gifts at www.spiritualchristiangifts.com