Responsibility

I like this picture of a mother with her son. As we guide our children through this life we carry great responsibility. One of those responsibilities is consistent discipline. I am reading a book called: The Mother at Home by John Abbot. The first chapter is titled "Responsibility".

Here is an excerpt from this chapter that pierced my heart:

"His character is now, in an important sense, in your hands, and you are to form it for good or evil. If you are consistent in your government, and faithful in the discharge of your duties, your child will probably through life revere you and be your solace of your declining years...It is true that there are many mothers who feel their responsibilities perhaps as deeply as it is best they should feel them. But there are many others-even Christian mothers-who seem to forget that their children will ever be less under their control than they are while young. And they are training them up, by indecision and indulgence, soon to tyrannize over their parents with a rod of iron-and to pierce their hearts with many sorrows. If you are unfaithful to your child when he is young, he will be unfaithful to you when he is old. If you indulge him in all his foolish and unreasonable wishes when he is a child when he becomes a man he will indulge himself; he will gratify every desire of his heart and your sufferings will be rendered the more poignant by the reflection that it was your own unfaithfulness which has caused his ruin. If you would be the happy mother of a happy child, give your attention, and your efforts and your prayers, to the great duty of training him up for God and heaven."

Can we say sobering?...