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The Bents in Your Baby

Artwork for Biblical Parenting

One of the most frequent mistakes parents make is thinking that when they have a baby the infant comes to them like a soft piece of clay. Most parents believe a child can be easily shaped into whatever is best for that child—and since they (the parents) believe they know what’s best, they train their little one in the way they are convinced that child should go. It isn’t too many years before the fight is on! As time passes, the struggle intensifies, and the battle with the child’s will becomes more difficult. Conflicts abound, frustrations mount, and then—before mom and dad are ready—those inevitable teenage years arrive, introducing challenges that border the unbearable! No matter how hard parents try, the child is determined to go in a direction different from the parents’ desire, and the rebellion persists. What went wrong? What’s missing from this domestic equation? Why is the battle so difficult? The problem boils down to the natural “bents” in every baby.