Gardiner Spring

Christian Parenting Gardiner Spring

Time and again, the Word of God calls us to be in subjection to authority. If there is a place where this call should be especially steady and certain, it is the family. And it is a happy family who cultivates this habit of subordination. God has assigned the years of childhood and youth to parental control. This wise and generous arrangement simply cannot be upended without jeopardizing the best interests of our children for time and eternity. It is an arrangement that will preserve a child from a thousand evils. The spirit that considers a parent's wishes-that hesitates to violate a parent's authority-that prefers to sacrifice its own gratification-this spirit is one of the strongest shields that can be thrown around youthful character. In fact, this spirit of submission helps lead to early purity. Not every dutiful child is pure, but it certainly is more likely that such a child will become so, rather than one of an obstinate, unbending temper.