It’s true, training kids can at times be described as CONTROLLED CHAOS, but a clear view of our job description can easily be seen in Proverbs 22…that we should TEACH rather that FORCE kids how to be GOOD CHOOSERS. WOW! You mean kids can make good decisions on their own? Maybe…

*STORY* Finding one of her students making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to gently reprove the child. Smiling sweetly, the Sunday school teacher said, "Bobby, when I was a child, I was told that if I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would stay like that." Bobby looked up into her face, grimaced a bit, and replied, "Well, Ms. Smith, you can't say you weren't warned.

It’s true, kids don’t always say the right things or make the right decisions, but what amazes me is that God doesn’t tell us to FORCE them to do so either. The key is to TEACH them to CHOOSE right from wrong, “and when they are older, they WILL REMAIN upon it.”

So what does that mean to you? It means that your mandate from God is to use a Mr. Miagi (Karate Kid) approach and not a Rex-Kwan-Do (Napoleon Dynamite) approach as your method of training. The two equations look something like this:

     :-( TEACH METHOD + KID = WISE CHILD WHO LEARNS TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES! 

     :-) FORCE METHOD + KID = SHELTERED CHILD WHO REBELS WHEN HE IS OLDER!

So having a generation of GOOD CHOOSERS is a difficult formula? NO!  It’s as simple as A-B-C!

• AFFIRMATION – Remind Your Kids Of What God Sees In Them!

As kids build their own self-image, juggling the variety of mixed signals they receive from outside sources, be sure to be THE SOURCE reminding them that they are Psalm 139:14, “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

• BOUNDARIES – Kids Love Structure…It Makes Them Feel Safe!

Gambling with boundaries in a child’s life is like gambling with the safety of that child. Kids understand that there is no “gray area” when it comes to right and wrong, so remember to use Romans 12:1 as your moral compass in teaching young people how to live “holy and pleasing to God”.

• CONSISTENCY – Do What I Say…Not What I Do?

This is the biggest cop-out it child training! In reality, your kids may listen to what you say, but they are COPYING everything you do! Plainly, what you say may SPEAK into the heart of a child, but what you do, SHOUTS!

Here’s the bottom line…kids will do what you say if YOU DO what you say! So if we craft a new motto for training up GOOD CHOOSERS, it would look something like this…Do what I say, and “model your life” after what I do.