Looking back on my 38 years of parenting, I have to admit that I didn’t always view wrong behavior the right way! Rather than seeing it as a chance to use Biblical correction to build Godly character, I sometimes viewed it more as an inconvenience, or an interruption in what I was trying to get done. Many times I would get frustrated or irritated because I had to stop whatever it was I doing to go correct and train a misbehaving child.
How did I receive a correction from God? One day God spoke to my heart and showed me that whenever my kids showed wrong behavior, wrong attitudes, or wrong actions it was an OPPORTUNITY for me to train and correct their heart with Scripture to build Godly character in them.
The right attitude asks, “How can I correct and train them in this situation to draw them back into a right relationship with the Lord?”
The right attitude looks for what you can teach them to help so they will understand why their behavior is unacceptable, and isn’t pleasing to God.
Your attitude should NOT be one of frustration that is simply looking to change their behavior (rather than their heart), so they will quit embarrassing or frustrating you.
When you see your child showing that wrong behavior, go to them with the right spirit. Rather than approaching them with a harsh spirit, approach it with something like this:
I know you love God and want to please Him, but when you acted like that He wasn’t pleased. Let’s go to His Word and find answers to help you with the heart issues that are causing this behavior.”
God’s Word is our TOOL for Biblical correction, and is the most effective tool there is! If you want your kids to be like Jesus (which is what Godly character is) you need to use God’s Word as your guide to training and correcting.
His Word has the ability to bring conviction and change hearts. Often our kids will just tune OUR words out, but God’s Word penetrates their hearts bringing changes that will lead them to become more like Him.
I found that when I took my children to God’s Word it kept me calm and focused as I corrected and trained them. It also helped me to have God’s Word in MY heart and mind throughout the day, which helped me to have a better attitude and spirit with my children.
I believe that consistency is one of the hardest things about parenting. Without meaning to, it’s easy to start letting “little things” go. Perhaps you find yourself repeating things several times when telling your kids what to do, before realizing that they aren’t obeying. By doing that over time, you are reinforcing negative character (disobedience).
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When you are inconsistent, you teach your child to take chances and they never know if you really mean what you say. Not only is this unfair to them, but it also hinders the development of the character you are trying to instill in them.
When you’re tired, or busy, it’s easy to think “I’ll just let it go this time. It’s just a little thing, after all.” However, it’s important that you Don’t Let The Little Weeds Grow In Your Child’s Heart!
One of the best ways to use biblical correction is by seeing it as an opportunity for you, not a punishment. When your children disobey and show wrong behavior or attitudes, they are asking you to train them in what’s right. God has given us this privilege to help shape their character so that when we hand them over one day into His care they will be ready with a heart-shaped like Jesus’. Take these two steps today and see if it helps change how you use biblical correction to build Godly character!
Today’s challenge:
1.When you see your child showing wrong behavior, calmly take them to God’s Word and show them what He says about that behavior.
2. Pray with them asking God to help them to do better in that area.
108 Responses
Hi Elicia, check out my Training & Correcting The Heart With Scripture ebook. It was written for that purpose. 🙂
This is a great reminder! Thank you!
I love the idea of using scripture, but how do we find the ones we need? I need a index where I can look up the behavior and it will list all the related scriptures! ;D
I love your practical advice. Thank you!
Dear Kathie, correcting a hild through God‘s Word is the best way to win a child‘s heart. I found out that that’s exactly what i need to do but don’t know how. Which scripture for which behavior… I wish I could get your help…
Thank you!
Thank you for focusing on what’s most important in everyday life. I think the largest step forward will be trying to figure out and know where in scripture to go to show them the heart of God.
Please enter me in the contest. I definitely need to work on this, especially the consistency even when tired part :/
I love the idea but I’d love to see a practical example of how this plays out. I have a fear that it may make my child dread the Word of God – have you ever seen this happen and if so, what to do?
This is just what I needed today, to help my children, and to do it with the right heart myself. Thank you, Kathie, for sharing your wisdom!
This post was definitely beneficial! We need this so much in our home. !
Thank you for writing this!
Thanks for this series. I’d love to win this book to use with my 3 kids!
I have 3 little ones under the age of 4. Misbehaving can be frustrating at times. I would love to learn more on how to instruct them using Godly truths!
Thank you for this! ❤❤❤
Thank you for the reminder that I need to make searching for teachable moments my priority, instead of getting aggravated about being off schedule due to disobedience.
We’ve been repeating to our boys so much more lately, it seems.
Sharing with my husband 😊
Would like to win this
This post was very convicting and encouraging. I can do it. I was just telling my husband last night about how i was getting angry more than correcting and needing to figure out how to discipline differently – Scripture is the perfect answer!
Wow! Exactly what we needed! God is using you powerfully in our lives. This one thing you shared changed my whole perspective as I used it today..my child were totally receptive because I wasn’t fault finding when they needed discipline but instead began with what you shared. “I I know you love God and want to please Him, but when you acted like that He wasn’t pleased. Let’s go to His Word and find answers to help you with the heart issues that are causing this behavior.” The Lord brought fitting Scripture to my mind instantly for most of the scenarios too. Praise Jesus! Powerful. Thank you!!!
As a Christian mom of 3, I know I fail many times when trying to discipline my children in a Godly way. This will most definitely be an awesome gift in raising Godly kids!
Thank you
Elizabeth.
Thank you for your encouragement on consistency. That is what I need to work on. God bless you!
I sat in church many years before my test became my testimony and my life was changed. I am in need of a resource to help me guide my arrows. I have a strong willed son that is in need of this very thing. Thank you for opening my eyes to view misbehaving as an opportunity to show my child the love of Jesus and not my own frustration. Thank you and God Bless! 🙂
I really enjoy this series and all of your teachings. It is true that taking them straight to God’s Word helps more so than anything else. It diffuses a lot of tempers. Thank you for allowing God to use you!
Thank you for the great reminders!!
Thank you for the great reminders!
The sounds really interesting to me and I would love to learn more about this. I have a strong-willed Child end it puts extra challenges on how we both respond
I need Scripture to correct my own heart as well as train my children’s!
Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. It’s always encouraging to hear someone speaking truth and encouraging other (moms) to live by the truth and prayers!
Great tips! I have never thought to open the bible and read to let so they could relate thier behavior with it.
I have three adopted children who are three,three and two. It is my desire to raise them to have godly character. I so appreciate your knowledge and wisdom. I struggle with consistency. And now I realize I approach the correcting with the wrong approach. Thank you for allowing me to see that. I look forward to many more insights.
Your blog is such a blessing! I’m learning and growing so much from your teachings, thank you!! God bless you!
I really struggle with obedience. It’s been on my mind lately. I didn’t notice my children weren’t obedient until recently. It didn’t really occur to me it was something I could train them in. I thought of it more as a personality issue. But lately I see my attitude as a problem for my children. Thanks for all your blogs and books and emails. I want to homeschool my kids but it seems like an impossible task when they aren’t obedient. Your challenges are really helping me to see what I can do about this and have faith in myself!
Julie, you can google Scripture verses on _________, and fill in the topic. It will bring up a list of related verses you can use.
Thank you for these challenges! I need daily reminders to keep the right attitude towards discipline and to take my kids to the word.
Thank you. I really need this right now as I’m struggling with getting frustrated and angry. I do have a question. How do I know where specifically to look in God’s word to address a certain behavior. Would I use a concordance? Thanks again.
I think for me the hardest challenge is having the right attitude and response.
I love this post so much. It came at a time I really needed to hear this. As a new Christian I am faced with many years of not having His Word instilled in not only myself, but my children as well. So many “little things” have built up, so reading this article has helped me realize I play just as big of a role in how I approach my children. Your book would be a blessing to help me find the right Scriptures during our journey. Thank you for the insight and the opportunity.
Thank you for this encouragement. It is so easy to see ‘bad’ behavior as an inconvenience instead of a an opportunity to point my children to Christ.
Thank you for the reminder to view negative behavior as an opportunity instead of an interruption. What a great insight.
Hi Kathy, thank you for your wise words and the heart of love to share with us. Have a blessed day🌸🌸🌸
This series is very helpful and winning the book would be a bonus. yes the right attitude and response would first be helpful in the situation.
I wish I knew scripture better to be able to pick the right verse for each behavior.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and wisdom. It’s always encouraging to hear someone speaking truth and encouraging others to live by the Truth.
Thank you for this post; the book would be helpful!
Great ideas I really need to work on consistency with my child and I could really use the book as well
thanks for creating it and the very helpful ideas.
I agree, consistency is the hardest part! I struggle so much with this. I think a lot of that is due to leaning on my own strength and understanding instead of the Lord’s. Need to pray that God will work on my heart in this area.
Thank you for giving examples to show how to phrase it so you don’t sound condemning. This will work very well with one of my boys, do you have any tips on using the Bible to correct a difficult 2 year old who doesn’t naturally want to please?
I am so encouraged by your wisdom and words. Thank you for the practical tips as well, they are very helpful!
Thank you so much for what you do! I would love to read your book.
I love what you have to say. Unfortunately, I have a hard time changing my immediate reaction to my children’s actions when I view it as negative. I’m trying to form better habits…I can see progress, but it seems like a slow progress. Lord, give me Your power to bring You honor.
Definitely could be a great resource for my family. It looks wonderful!
I really need help in this area…not getting frustrated and instead listening to God and teaching my kids to listen to His Word.
This challenge is so timely and especially this post about consistency. Thank you for your wisdom!
Love this post!!
Thank you!
Thank you Kathie! What perfect timing to have a Character challenge. I had a chance to out this into practice today when my daughter displayed heart issues. Thank you for your guidance and encouragement. Looking forward to the rest of the week. Praise the Lord!
Thank you for this article. I needed to read this today. I love your articles and advice.
Love this post!
Thank you!!
Great advice! I needed to hear this today.😊
Hi Kathie,
This post on best ways to use biblical correction is so beneficial. All the linked posts are also wonderful. I thank our Lord for using you and your experience in encouraging and providing wisdom to parents all over the globe in raising kids with Godly character. You are an inspiration.
Praise the Lord!!
This book looks amazing!
I struggle with staying calm when my child misbehaves. To have a ready made list of scriptures that helps me and her stay calm and focus on the heart of the matter instead of the behavior would be great. And to be able to use it in a way that doesn’t turn God’s word into a list of rules that we can’t ever fulfill sounds fantastic! Thank you for this!
I like how this approach keeps us all in scripture throughout the day. And I want to learn to trust that God’s word can be all they need without any preaching from me.
Thank you so much for this! Consistency definitely is hard for me!
This is an area I am really lacking in & need to be intentional about.
I purchased Training and Correcting the Heart last week and am already seeing a transformation in my own heart toward leading my children. We’re pairing it with Little Lads and Ladies of Virtue and I’m so excited to see how God uses it all in our family. Thank you for these resources!
I would love to win this book! I am needing a new way to try to reach the heart of my oldest. It is a daily battle right now.
Thank you for today’s challenge!
Really appreciate this theme and will be a blessing to any mum who receives this book.
I wanted to ask what’s the best way to approach a 3 year old when his mind is set on something, like playing, or wanting to eat a biscuit and mum decides it’s not time for it and the child makes a tantrum. Mum talks about obedience and Reminds the child about efesians 6, but the child doesn’t seem to connect with that… How can I make it more personal to my little boy that only knows God through what I say but doesn’t have a personal experience yet? Is there something I need to do before this particular stage to make it more efficient?
You are always an encouragement to get back on track with training!!
This challenge couldn’t have come at a better time for my family! We all are in need of a change of heart! This has us heading in a better direction!
Thanks for all the encouragement you share and wisdom when it comes to character / training our children! It really gets me thinking about my own character and the example I want/need to set for my children.
I like how this approach also keep us parents in scripture all day and will likely help soften our hearts throughout the day as we correct over and over again.
I am enjoying the intentional character building series! Thank you for the giveaway.
Looking forward to see more about this book! Thank you!
This post was really helpful. I have been realizing that I have been going about my child training all wrong and have become quite frustrated with the lack of results. I will be implementing this advice immediately. Thank you!
I really appreciate the challenge at the end of the article. It helps me put it into action.
Thank you Kathie for all you do!
Hi Kathie! Thanks so much for doing this! I’m so thankful for the way you encourage me as a mom of young children. I really believe you are fulfilling Titus 2:4. May God continue to bless your efforts with the character corner!
Thank you for this! Your book looks amazing!
Thank you so much for the great advice! I really found “being consistent” to be very helpful. If I’m not consistent then my children won’t know what to expect from me and how I expect them to behave. Thanks!!
Beautiful
This looks like a great resource. Thanks for the series.
I am glad to find helpful resources to help encourage us as parents to direct our children to the Lord.
I appreciate your words! Especially the reminder to be consistent. I agree, that is so hard, especially when everyone is having a rough day all at the same time! Thank you for your ministry, I am new to your site and have really enjoyed what I have found!
Such good tips! Thank you!
This series is helping me so much.
I would love a chance to win the book Training and Correcting the Heart that you’ve written.
Blessings, Cassy
Thanks so much for this, indeed it is only God’s word which will penetrate into our children’s hearts and ours too.
Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Thanks, once again.
This sounds very helpful! Though, is there a list or something, maybe your book, that could help me easily find the right scripture verse for the correcting moment?
Thank you so much for this series! We’re struggling with character issues in our home, and it’s so easy to overlook the heart problem and skip right to the “stop embarrassing me/just stop acting that way” point of frustration. I’m excited to implement these strategies in our home!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Your website is quickly becoming a go to for parenting advice.
What a nice way to approach misbehavior. I have an 8, 6, 3, and 1 year old. It feels like I spend my entire day dealing with behavior. I hope this approach will help bring more peace into my home.
This series has been so helpful already! Thank you
Good word. Would love to know more
Thank you for these posts. I realized I respond out of frustration more than I’d like to admit. My hope is the Lord will give me the strength and grace to respond sweetly and biblically.
Great advice. I need to use scripture with my children more.
Thank you
I need to focus more on the heart issue than their actions. Thank you for this reminder and challenge!
Love this post. I need to work on my attitude and response, and consistency towards bad behavior just as much, if not more, when trying to correct my children.
Thank you!
Thank you for offering the challenge! Hope I win your book! 🙂
I need help in this area! Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks for the encouraging article!
I definitely fail at consistency. I love the way this trains our children to go to God’s Word when they are older for answers, not the world.
Consistency is definitely something I struggle with especially when I’m tired.
Thank you for your willingness to pass on your experience and wisdom with those of us in this season of life. I have truly enjoyed your blog and support material. I have many of your posts extremely helpful in focusing my efforts on correcting behaviors and not just getting frustrated and not knowing what to do!
I would love you to show me how I can correct my children’s character using appropriate verses in the bible. What wisdom to use God’s wisdom and not ours. Thank you!
Great words of wisdom. I definitely need to focus more on the heart of my children and myself and like you said not look at it as an inconvenience but Opportunity
I sooooo need this. Been doing the challenge and already feel differently and definitely convicted on old ways.
Thank you Kathie for being a true inspiration in my life even though you don’t know it! I’m telling everyone I know with children about you.
This book would be a great resource to have! My children love God but do not enjoy being lectured by me about being well behaved. Going directly to God’s word is definitely the most effective way to discipline! Thank you for your dedication to bringing families closer to God!
I love the practical ways you spell this out. I have known this in heart and spirit and try to implement this as the Spirit has led but these applicable words and reasons are encouraging and give specific direction on the “how to”. Thank you. I’m really enjoying this challenge.