Already Programmed

"The Bible assumes that a child comes into life divinely open to the influence of his or her parents and teaches that, before birth, the slate is already written upon. To be specific, the child bears the marks of the Creator God on his or her soul--the imago dei, the image of God. As a parent, you know intuitively that your child is not a blank disk. Rather, your child's mind is preformatted and already loaded with an infinitely complex program, ready-to-run out of the box, and just waiting for your instructions. It's not your responsibility to program your child, but rather to run the program that God has already put there."

This quote comes from the book I am currently reading, Heartfelt Discipline by Clay Clarkson. I love his point in this passage, especially the last sentence. So much of our parenting is determined simply by what we think our job is as parents. If we see ourselves as the ones that program our children, we try to force them into a mold and make them look a certain way. This inevitably leads to a focus on externals, not internals. This can lead to a child who looks great on the outside and is a mess on the inside. However, if we see our role as that of seeking to run the program God has already installed on the hearts, the personalities, of our children, then our focus will shift. We will be more concerned with what is happening inside our children, more concerned about their spirits. This leads us to knowing them and who God made them to be.