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Why Children Matter Series

Discussing Christian parenting

Johann Christoph and Verena Arnold

Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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In a world which is increasingly hostile to children, it is vitally important to give each one a childhood that glorifies God. That's why I've written another book on Christian parenting, Why Children Matter. We have been posting a chapter on our website every Friday. If you follow along, you'll be able to give me feedback on specific topics. Your opinions will be appreciated and thoughtfully considered!

- Johann Christoph Arnold

Articles in This Series

A Letter from Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Just in – Cardinal Dolan of New York weighs in on Why Children Matter.

Introduction to Why Children Matter

In a world which is increasingly hostile to children, it is vitally important to give children a childhood that glorifies God. This is a new book on Christian parenting called Why Children Matter.

The Childlike Spirit

The disciples wanted to learn from Jesus, but they were not ready to become like children: they quarreled about who among them would be the greatest in the kingdom of God.

Founding a Family

Many children do not even know who their real parents are, or how they are related to other children. We seem to have forgotten that the health of society is dependent on the health of its families.

The Unborn Child

Abortion is murder, without exception. A woman who has had an abortion will always suffer great torment of conscience. She can find healing only in Christ, who will forgive every repentant heart.

Birth

Nothing can prepare you for the moment when you hold your own baby in your arms – to realize, all of a sudden, that this is your baby, and that it belongs to no one else. The responsibility to raise a child is now on your shoulders.

Motherhood

Many women in our time rebel against motherhood. They forget that it is not only a God-given task, but also a God-given privilege.

Fatherhood

A man who lacks moral character or is unsure of himself cannot provide his children with real security. And when children have no security, the consequences can be tragic.

Creating a Home

Preparing a place of love and security for children is one of the most wonderful things parents can do. Such a home will reflect our love to God and our love for our children.

The Role of Grandparents

Regardless of a child's age, the times spent with a grandparent will always be enriching. Such moments will be experienced as oases of comfort and quiet for the child, and the grandparent will see them as opportunities for love. In the end, both…

The First Years

Raising children does not mean molding them according to our own wishes and ideas. It means helping them to become what they already are in God's mind.

Teaching Respect

All of us are familiar with the biblical commandment that is the cornerstone of child rearing: Honor father and mother. But what does it mean?

Spoiling Your Child

How many harried parents spend all of their energy simply trying to keep up with their children's demands? And how many more give in to their children just to keep them quiet?

Discipline

Discipline means more than just catching children in the act. It means guiding them to choose right over wrong. It means teaching self-denial as a valuable character trait.

Explaining Life, Death, and Suffering

All life comes from God and goes back to God, and if we really believe this, our fears about death – and our children's fears – should be allayed.

Religious Education

Our children crave a foundation to stand on. Their emotional stability as adults will depend on what we teach them when they are young. How, then, should we lead them to God?

When Children Suffer

Why should my child, why should we, have to bear the burden of pain? Why does God give us a child to love and then take it away from us again?

The Special Child

Christ comes to us in the form of a stranger, a beggar, and an angel. Why should he not also come in the form of a disabled child?

Adoption

It can take years of waiting and thousands of dollars to adopt a child, and matching hopeful couples with unwanted children can be extremely difficult. Something radical needs to be done to make adoption easier and less economically burdensome.

Children and Sin

If we truly love our children, we will never throw up our hands in despair. Even at the end of the roughest day, we cannot lose joy in them, and must believe that Christ's power to redeem and heal is there for them as much as it is for us.

Building Character

We live in a time when almost everything that our parents and grandparents taught us about God is scorned. This is seen most of all in public schools, where faith has taken second seat to the modern gods of tolerance and neutrality.

Consideration for Others

Name-calling and taunting have been around as long as there have been schools and children. The effects of bullying at this formative age can last a lifetime; it is not just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up.

Teenagers

All teenagers can understand that they are made in the image of God, and if they can see this as a calling, a task, and a responsibility – they can develop a self-discipline that will serve them in all areas.

Conclusion

Few parents and educators even consider what God might have in mind for a particular child. But it is God, and not we, who created our children. He has a plan for each one, and our children will become themselves only if they are allowed to develop…

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Why Children Matter

In an age when common sense too often gives way to the opinions of “experts”, Arnold offers an approach to childrearing that is grounded in faith and old-fashioned in the best sense. This short ebook offers up concrete steps to bolster and encourage those parents who want to pass on to their children the values their parents gave them.

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