Consequences

Genesis 2:24: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh (NIV).

God’s plan for our kids is for them to become progressively less and less dependent on us and eventually to leave our home. We can help them develop the skills they are going to need as adults by allowing them to make more age-appropriate choices and experience the consequences of those choices.

Learning to be a good decision-maker is a skill that is learned, and kids will make mistakes along the way. You will be tempted to intervene to prevent mistakes or rescue your kids from consequences, because you hate to see them in pain. Challenge yourself to adopt a longer perspective and ask yourself what will be more painful – allowing them to make mistakes under your roof or postponing the learning opportunity until later in life when the stakes are much higher?
When you allow your kids to experience the consequences of their mistakes, you prepare them to be capable adults.