How do I get my child to be honest with me?<\/p>\n\t
First, set the proper example of being honest in all your dealings; not just with your child but with everyone around you. Just as Paul told Timothy in being a preacher he must, “be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:12), the same hold true for parents in order for them to teach their children. Your child watches you constantly and mimics the things you do. If your child sees you lie to get out of a difficulty, guess what the child will do when he perceives himself to be in trouble?<\/p>\n Second, expect honesty from your child. We fault our government because it says drugs are wrong while at the same time handing out free needles. Well, parents are sometimes guilty of the same thing on a smaller scale. When a parent never accepts a child’s word and tells the child, “You always lie,” the child soon learns to live up to his parents’ expectations. Yes, children sometimes lie, so deal with each lie as it arises on an individual basis, but in between show your child that you are expecting him to tell you the truth by accepting and acting on what he states. This doesn’t mean a parent should be gullible. God warns, “If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked<\/em>” (Proverbs 29:12). So, expect truth, but don’t let lies go unpunished.<\/p>\n Third, punish lies consistently when they are discovered. “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape<\/em>” (Proverbs 19:5). If a child lies to get out of doing homework, make sure he gets the homework done, not only that day but for the next two weeks. When the child complains, say, “I want to believe you when you say you’ll get the work done, but you didn’t last ______ and you lied about it. I was very disappointed. You will have to show me that you can do your work for a while and that I can return to trusting you, then we can go back to a more normal routine.” A child that repeated lies, or defiantly lies, may have to be punished to a greater extent by spanking if a good consequence to the misdeed can’t be determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: How do I get my child to be honest with me? Answer: First, set the proper example of being honest in all your dealings; not just with your child but with everyone around you. Just as Paul told Timothy in being a preacher he must, “be an example to the believers in word, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[527,392,29,107],"class_list":["post-4041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-honesty","tag-lying","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-an-elder-have-faithful-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":0},"title":"Must an elder have faithful children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it necessary for an elder to have children faithful in the church? If yes, then how many? Answer: \"Having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion\" (Titus 1:6). \"He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52938,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-does-someone-stop-being-a-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":1},"title":"When does someone stop being a child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Ephesians 6:1-2. \"Children\" has no absolute age-associated concept to it, does it? If it was only used in the sense of young children, well then. But it refers all over scripture to offspring generally. When does the principle of a child as a minor actually come into play here?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-normal-for-a-young-child-to-connect-their-private-parts-to-the-idea-of-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":2},"title":"Is it normal for a young child to connect their private parts to the idea of sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please tell me if children normally connect their private parts to the idea of sex or the reproductive parts of the opposite sex? I'm asking because I did so since around 7. Is it normal? Answer: A child, prior to puberty, has no built-in concept of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60576,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unwanted-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":3},"title":"Unwanted Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton It seems strange, but I've started writing this article numerous times. Each time I've tossed it because I found myself unable to express exactly what was going through my mind. Many years ago I realized that our country contains a lot of unwanted children. The circumstances\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-elders-have-more-than-one-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":4},"title":"Must elders have more than one child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Must elders have more than one child? Answer: \"one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence\" (I Timothy 3:4). \"if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination\" (Titus 1:6). The Greek\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/raising-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":4041,"position":5},"title":"Raising Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This generation is full of unusual ideas about how to raise children \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many are leftovers of failed experiments that continue to hang around. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don't spank children \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a form of child abuse or could lead to it. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is unnatural to restrict children \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ignore children\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4041\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}